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Relations between the British government and the American colonies deteriorated rapidly in the ten years following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. Internal conflicts between Whigs and Tories mirrored the external debate as Americans disagreed over how to respond to imperial policies such as the tax on tea. News of Boston's "tea party" electrified the western Massachusetts town of Deerfield. Local divisions intensified as Whigs celebrated the destruction of the tea and Tories condemned the act.