Final answer:
In protest of the Townshend Acts, merchants coordinated boycotts and formed the non-importation movement, culminating in acts of resistance like the Boston Tea Party, significantly challenging British economic interests.
Step-by-step explanation:
To protest the Townshend Acts, many merchants and colonists engaged in a series of boycotts, refusing to import, purchase, or consume British goods taxed by the Acts. Recognizing the collective economic power they wielded, colonial assemblies also initiated a non-importation movement, which restricted the importation of goods subjected to the Townshend taxes, affecting trade significantly.
Amid escalating tensions, the Massachusetts legislature petitioned the king for relief from the oppressive taxes and solicited other colonies to support their stance through a boycott of British manufactured goods. Merchants and politicians alike joined forces through the Committees of Correspondence, coordinating their resistance across the colonies, leading to a significant economic impact on British trade - as seen with the immobility of East India Company tea ships in several ports. The boiling point of the protest in Boston came on December 16, 1773, when Patriots openly defied the Tea Act by dumping a vast amount of tea into Boston Harbor, an event famously known as the Boston Tea Party.
The protest writings, such as "Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer" by John Dickinson, further spread the colonial ideology of resistance, outlining their objections to such British policies and reinforcing the unity against these acts. Ultimately, these actions taken by the colonists in response to the Townshend Acts played a crucial role in the escalation of hostilities that led to the American Revolution.