Key Takeaways: the Townshend Acts
- The Townshend Acts were four laws enacted by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed and enforced the collection of taxes on the American colonies.
- The Townshend Acts consisted of the Suspending Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, and the Commissioners of Customs Act.
What was the main purpose of the Townshend Acts?
What was the main purpose of the Townshend Act? The Townshend Acts, passed in 1767 and 1768, were designed to raise revenue for the British Empire by taxing its North American colonies. They were met with widespread protest in the colonies, especially among merchants in Boston. What led to the Townshend Act? Townshend Acts, 1767, ]
What are the cause and effects of the Townshend Acts?
The cause of the Townshend Acts, a series of measures imposed upon the American colonists, was the British desire to raise revenue, punish the colonists and assert the authority of the British Parliament. The effects of the acts were widespread dissatisfaction, protests, a boycott of British goods and other civil unrest leading up to the Boston Massacre, at which five American civilians were ...
What was the Townsend Act and what were the effects?
establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. They placed an indirect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, all of which had to be imported from Britain.
What were Townshend Acts and the writs of assistance?
What were Townshend Acts and the writs of assistance? In 1767, the Townshend Acts authorized customs officers throughout the colonies to use writs of assistance to enforce the collection of import duties. How was the writs of assistance signifanct?
What acts were in the Townshend Acts?
The five Townshend ActsThe New York Restraining Act 1767.The Revenue Act 1767.The Indemnity Act 1767.The Commissioners of Customs Act 1767.The Vice Admiralty Court Act 1768.
How many acts were in Townshend Acts?
Townshend Acts, (June 15–July 2, 1767), in colonial U.S. history, series of four acts passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what it considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies through suspension of a recalcitrant representative assembly and through strict provisions for ...
What were the four Townshend Acts called?
The Townshend Acts were four laws enacted by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed and enforced the collection of taxes on the American colonies. The Townshend Acts consisted of the Suspending Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, and the Commissioners of Customs Act.
What were the 5 items that are taxed by these act the Townshend Acts?
The Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, British chancellor of the Exchequer, imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported to the colonies.
What did the Tea Act do?
In an effort to save the troubled enterprise, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. The act granted the company the right to ship its tea directly to the colonies without first landing it in England, and to commission agents who would have the sole right to sell tea in the colonies.
What were the Intolerable Acts also known as?
The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party.
Why was the Tea Act passed?
On April 27, 1773, the British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade.
Why did the Townshend Acts anger the colonists?
Because colonists had opposed the direct tax imposed by the Stamp Act, Townshend erroneously believed they would accept the indirect taxes, called duties, contained in the new measures. These new taxes further fueled the anger regarding the injustice of taxation without representation.
How did the Townshend Acts differ from the Stamp Act?
The Townshend Acts were acts that generally raised taxes, while the Stamp act specifically imposed a direct tax on documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other paper products.
Was the restraining act part of the Townshend Act?
The New York Restraining Act was one of the five Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in 1767 and 1768 to lay more taxes with strict enforcement upon Britain's American colonies. The New York Restraining Act was the first of the five Acts and was passed on June 15, 1767.
What did the colonists do in response to the Townshend Acts?
Riotous protest of the Townshend Acts in the colonies often invoked the phrase no taxation without representation. Colonists eventually decided not to import British goods until the act was repealed and to boycott any goods that were imported in violation of their non-importation agreement.
Why was the Townshend Act unfair?
The Americans thought the Townshend act was unfair because they were not represented in the British Parliament so they could not get a vote or a say in the voting. From June 15 – July 2, 1767.
Why was the Townshend Act unfair?
The Americans thought the Townshend act was unfair because they were not represented in the British Parliament so they could not get a vote or a say in the voting. From June 15 – July 2, 1767.
When were the Townshend Acts repealed?
On April 12, 1770, the British government moves to mollify outraged colonists by repealing most of the clauses of the hated Townshend Act.
How did the Townshend Acts differ from the Stamp Act?
The Townshend Acts were acts that generally raised taxes, while the Stamp act specifically imposed a direct tax on documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other paper products.
When did the Townshend Act start?
On 29 June 1767 Parliament passes the Townshend Acts. They bear the name of Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is—as the chief treasurer of the British Empire—in charge of economic and financial matters.
What was the purpose of the Townshend Acts?
history, series of four acts passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what it considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies through suspension of a recalcitrant representative assembly and through strict provisions for the collection of revenue duties. The British American colonists named the acts after Charles Townshend, who sponsored them.
What were the duties of the Townshend?
The acts posed an immediate threat to established traditions of colonial self-government, especially the practice of taxation through representative provincial ...
What were the duties of the second act?
The second act, often called the Townshend duties or the Revenue Act, imposed direct revenue duties —that is, duties aimed not merely at regulating trade but at putting money into the British treasury. These were payable at colonial ports and fell on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea.
What did Townshend claim to take literally?
Townshend, claiming to take literally the colonial distinction between external and internal taxes, imposed external duties on a wide range of necessities, including lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea, the principal domestic beverage. One ominous result was that colonists now began to believe that the…
Who sponsored the Suspending Act?
The British American colonists named the acts after Charles Townshend , who sponsored them. The Suspending Act prohibited the New York Assembly from conducting any further business until it complied with the financial requirements of the Quartering Act (1765) for the expenses of British troops stationed there.
Who pushed through the Parliament in the spring of 1767?
The Grafton ministry adopted an energetic American policy, thanks in part to Townshend, who pushed through Parliament in the spring of 1767 his famous duties on tea, glass, lead, and papers. These import taxes were forthrightly declared to be for the purpose of…
Who was the merchant who publicly acknowledged his violation of the nonimportation agreement?
public acknowledgement of nonimportation agreement violation. A notice from New York merchant Simeon Coley on July 22, 1769, publicly acknowledging his violation of the nonimportation agreement that had been established by colonists in response to the duties imposed under the Townshend Acts. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Who spearheaded the Townshend Acts?
Townshend Acts. Charles Townshend spearheaded the laws, but died before their detrimental effects became apparent. The Townshend Acts ( / ˈtaʊnzənd /) or Townshend Duties, refers to a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 relating to the British colonies in America. They are named after Charles Townshend, ...
What was the first Townshend Act?
The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes simply known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act 1767. This act represented the Chatham ministry 's new approach to generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.
Why did the Townshend Acts help the East India Company?
Part of the purpose of the entire series of Townshend Acts was to save the company from imploding. Since tea smuggling had become a common and successful practice, Parliament realized how difficult it was to enforce the taxing of tea. The Act stated that no more taxes would be placed on tea, and it made the cost of the East India Company's tea less than tea that was smuggled via Holland. It was an incentive for the colonists to purchase the East India Company tea.
What was the purpose of the Commissioners of Customs Act of 1767?
The purposes of the acts were to: raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges so that they would remain loyal to Great Britain.
Why did New York resist the Quartering Act?
New York resisted the Quartering Act because it amounted to taxation without representation since they had no representatives in Parliament. Further, New York and the other colonies did not believe British soldiers were any longer necessary in the colonies, since the French and Indian War had come to an end. However, New York reluctantly agreed to pay for at least some of the soldiers' needs as they understood they were going to be punished by Parliament unless they acted. The New York Restraining Act was never implemented because the New York Assembly acted in time.
Why did the British government tax the colonies?
Following the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the British government was deep in debt. To pay a small fraction of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the Parliament of Great Britain decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire. But with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising revenue. American colonists argued that there were constitutional issues involved.
What were the taxes on glass, lead, paint colors, paper, and tea?
This was the second of the five acts, passed on 26 June 1767. It placed taxes on glass, lead, painters' colors, paper, and tea. It gave customs officials broad authority to enforce the taxes and punish smugglers through the use of " writs of assistance ", general warrants that could be used to search private property for smuggled goods. There was an angry response from colonists, who deemed the taxes a threat to their rights as British subjects. The use of writs of assistance was significantly controversial since the right to be secure in one's private property was an established right in Britain.
What Were the Townshend Acts?
The Sugar Act of 1764 was the first direct tax on the Colonies for the sole purpose of raising revenue. It was also the first time that American colonists raised the issue of no taxation without representation. The issue would become a major point of contention the following year with the passage of the widely unpopular Stamp Act of 1765.
Why were the Townshend Acts called the Townshend Acts?
Quite simply, they were called the Townshend Acts because Charles Townshend, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer (a fancy word for treasury), was the architect behind this series of laws passed in 1767 and 1768.
Why Did Parliament Pass the Townshend Acts?
From the perspective of the British government, these laws perfectly addressed the issue of colonial inefficiency, both in terms of government and revenue generation. Or, at the very least, these laws got things moving in the right direction.
Why did Charles Townshend believe himself a genius?
Charles Townshend believed himself a genius because he really thought the laws he proposed would not be met with the same resistance in the colonies that the Stamp Act was. His logic was that these were “indirect,” not direct, taxes. They were imposed for importing goods, which was not a direct tax on the consumption of those goods in the colonies. Clever.
What was the response to the Townshend Acts?
Response to the Townshend Acts. Knowing this perspective, it should not come as a surprise that the colonists responded harshly to the Townshend Acts. The first round of protests were calm — Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia petitioned the king to express their concern. This was ignored.
What was the Townshend Revenue Act?
The Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 placed import duties on items such as glass, lead, paint, and paper . It also gave local officials more power to deal with smugglers and those attempting to evade paying royal taxes — all designed to help improve the profitability of the colonies to the Crown, and also more firmly establish the rule of (British) law in America.
What taxes were levied without representation in Parliament?
It turns out the colonies rejected all taxes — direct, indirect, internal, external, sales, income, any and all — that were levied without proper representation in Parliament. Townshend went further by appointing an American Board of Customs Commissioners.
What was the last Townshend act?
The Vice-Admiralty Court Act of 1768 was the very last act of all the five Townshend acts. This was approved on 6th July.
When did Charles Townshend die?
However, due to the sudden death of Lord Charles Townshend in 1767’s September month, some people don’t want to include it in the list of Townshend acts; even after, it had similar intent with the other four.
What was the New York Restraining Act?
The New York Restraining Act of 1767. The New York Restraining Act of 1767 was the very first Townshend act among all the five. The Parliament of Great Britain passed it on 5th June. This act intercepted New York’s assembly to pass any bills.
What was the interception on the New York Assembly?
Historians say the interception on the New York assembly was like revenge from the British side for not implementing the Quartering act of 1765. However, the New York restraining Act never got implemented. 2. The Revenue Act of 1767. The Revenue Act of 1767 was the second Townshend act, passed on the 26th of July.
What was the purpose of the indemnity act of 1767?
The Indemnity Act of 1767. The Indemnity act of 1767 was passed on 29th June. This act’s main purpose was to protect and enforce British Mercantilism policies. Through the new law, some giant English companies, such as the ‘British East India Company’ enjoyed special privileges to dominate markets.
What act influenced the history of America?
Here we will show you what they are and how they really influenced the history of America. 1. The New York Restraining Act of 1767. The New York Restraining Act of 1767 was the very first Townshend act among all the five.
How many commissioners were there in the Customs Act?
The Commissioners of Customs Act ordered to appoint 5 commissioners to get the work done. Its headquarter was in Boston. Before the act passed, the customs enforcement handle office was located in Britain. Due to the long way distance, their actions on shipping regulations and taxes were quite weaker.
What Were the Townshend Acts?
The Townshend Acts was a collection of acts designed to tax American colonists and restrict their ability to govern the colonies, most strictly in New England. The acts were the result of revising older acts meant to tax colonists on imports as a way to repay the British for their participation in the French and Indian War. The subsequent acts to the war were met with controversy and opposed by the colonists. The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 are examples of older acts that ultimately failed because they directly targeted and taxed the colonists heavily, and therefore were revised to fit into a more restrictive set of laws that became known as the Townshend Acts. In 1767, Charles Townshend, the British chancellor of the Exchequer whom the acts are named after, created four new duties (taxes) for the colonies to abide by.
Why did the British use the Townshend Acts?
The Townshend Acts were used to refill the British treasury after the French and Indian War. The British believed that the American colonies did not contribute nearly as many funds to the war, so they implemented the Townshend Acts to compensate for their losses.
What Did the Colonists Think about the Townshend Acts?
The Townshend Acts were not popular among the colonists. They sparked protest and led to events such as the Boston Massacre.
Why did the Townshend Acts anger the colonists?
The Townshend Acts angered the colonists because they now had to pay higher taxes on British imported goods. The British sold goods at cheaper prices than most other companies but taxed them more heavily. Furthermore, colonists did not have a strong voice in government.
Why did the British want to impose new taxes on the colonies?
Not only did the British seek to impose new taxes on the colonies to refund their treasury, but they also saw the growing American resistance to British rule . The failed Sugar Act of 1764 and Stamp Act of 1765, combined with the laws established in the Quartering Act of 1765, were met with outrage by American colonists and empowered them to seek independence. Great Britain wanted to prevent this for as long as possible. Therefore, the Sugar and Stamp acts were repealed and a new act was set in its place, the Townshend Act. Colonists did not see a direct tax on their trading goods at first, so it was not opposed as quickly as the older acts, which taxed the colonists much more visibly.
Why did the Townshend Acts come to light?
The Townshend Acts came to light because of the French and Indian War. During this conflict, the British and the American colonists were engaged in battles with the French empire over control of the Ohio River Valley. The British funded most of the war and supplied many of the troops, so the strain on the British treasury was great. When the war concluded, the British decided that America should help repay and refill the British treasury for damages done to the British economy during the war.
How did the Revenue Act affect colonists?
The Revenue Act: Indirectly taxed colonists by having them pay higher fees on British imported goods including paper, tea, glass, lead, and china. It also reinforced search warrants or writs of assistance so that smuggled goods could be searched for. The act also reiterated the terms of the Quartering Act of 1765.
When did the townshend act end?
By early 1770, parliament had repealed all the townshend acts except for the tax on tea
What did Parliament give the commisioners?
Parliament gave the commisioners the power to search homes and private warehouses for smuggled items that had entered the colonies without payment of the customs duties. Passed in June of 1767. Taxed lead, glass, paper, tea, and paint.
When was the tax on lead passed?
Passed in June of 1767. Taxed lead, glass, paper, tea, and paint. Parliament knew that collecting and enforcing the taxes would be difficult, so they hired royal customs commissioners to do that. Click again to see term 👆. Tap again to see term 👆. Nice work!
Overview
Townshend's program
The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes simply known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act 1767. This act represented the Chatham ministry's new approach to generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. The British government had gotten the impression that because the colonists had objected to the Stamp Act on the grounds that it was a direct (or "internal") tax, colonists would therefore accept indirect (o…
Background
Following the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the British government was deep in debt. To pay a small fraction of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the Parliament of Great Britain decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire. But with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising …
The five Townshend Acts
This was the first of the five acts, passed on 5 June 1767. It forbade the New York Assembly and the governor of New York from passing any new bills until they complied with the Quartering Act 1765. That act required New York to provide housing, food and supplies for the British troops stationed there to defend the colony. New York resisted the Quartering Act saying they were being taxed, yet had no direct representation in Parliament. Furthermore, New York didn't think British …
Reaction
Townshend knew that his program would be controversial in the colonies, but he argued that, "The superiority of the mother country can at no time be better exerted than now." The Townshend Acts did not create an instant uproar like the Stamp Act had done two years earlier, but before long, opposition to the programme had become widespread. Townshend did not live to see this reacti…
Partial repeal
On 5 March 1770— the same day as the Boston Massacre although news traveled slowly at the time, and neither side of the Atlantic was aware of this coincidence—Lord North, the new Prime Minister, presented a motion in the House of Commons that called for partial repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act. Although some in Parliament advocated a complete repeal of the act, North disagreed, arguing that the tea duty should be retained to assert "the right of taxing the A…
Notes
1. ^ "Townshend Acts". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
2. ^ Dickerson (Navigation Acts, 195–95) for example, writes that there were four Townshend Acts, and does not mention the New York Restraining Act, which Chaffin says was "officially a part of the Potato Acts" ("Townshend Acts", 128).
Bibliography
• Chaffin, Robert J. "The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Jack P. Greene, and J.R. Pole, eds. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1991; reprint 1999. ISBN 1-55786-547-7.
• Dickerson, Oliver M. The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951.
What Were The Townshend Acts?
Why Did Parliament Pass The Townshend Acts?
- From the perspective of the British government, these laws perfectly addressed the issue of colonial inefficiency, both in terms of government and revenue generation. Or, at the very least, these laws got things moving in the right direction. The intention was to squash the growing spirit of rebellion under the king’s boot — the colonies weren’t contributing as much as they should ha…
Response to The Townshend Acts
- Knowing this perspective, it should not come as a surprise that the colonists responded harshly to the Townshend Acts. The first round of protests were calm — Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia petitioned the king to express their concern. This was ignored. As a result, those with dissent as their goal began to more aggressively distribute their perspective, hoping to recruit m…
Repealing The Townshend Acts
- Coincidentally, on the same day as that conflict — March 5, 1770 — Parliament voted to repeal all of the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea. It’s easy to assume it was the violence that motivated this, but instant messaging didn’t exist back in the 18th century and that meant it was impossible for the news to reach England that quickly. So, no cause and effect here — just pure …
Why Were They called The Townshend Acts?
- Quite simply, they were called the Townshend Acts because Charles Townshend, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer (a fancy word for treasury), was the architect behind this series of laws passed in 1767 and 1768. Charles Townshend had been in and out of British politics since the early 1750s, and in 1766, he was appointed this prestigious position, where he could fill out h…
Conclusion
- The passage of the Townshend Acts and the colonial response to them demonstrated the depth of difference that existed between the Crown, Parliament, and their colonial subjects. And furthermore, it showed that the issue wasn’t just about the taxes. It was about the status of the colonists in the eyes of the British, which saw them more as disposable hands working for a cor…