46; Knollenberg. Townshend Duty Act. Parliament responded with severe punishments in the Intolerable Acts of 1774. The Townshend Acts refers to a set of taxes passed by Parliament in 1767 after the Stamp Act caused riots on both sides of the Atlantic. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Townshend-Acts, Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum - Townshend Acts, United States History - The Townshend Acts, Townshend Acts - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Townshend Acts - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), public acknowledgement of nonimportation agreement violation. They were met with widespread protest in the colonies, especially among merchants in Boston. [22], The colonists' objection to "internal" taxes did not mean that they would accept "external" taxes; the colonial position was that any tax laid by Parliament for the purpose of raising revenue was unconstitutional. Initially the Townshend acts were meant to replace the Stamp Act to raise revenues for the crown. "Ladies of the first quality" do their share and newspaper reports use their example to inform and inspire readers to take action. It also gave local officials more power to deal with smugglers and those attempting to evade paying royal taxes — all III ch. Once the new Customs Board was in operation, enforcement increased, leading to confrontation with smuggling colonists. The Townshend Acts' taxation on imported tea was enforced once again by the Tea Act of 1773, and this led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773 in which Bostonians destroyed a shipment of taxed tea. One ominous result was that colonists now began to believe that the…, …then chancellor of exchequer, levied duties on certain imports into the colonies, including a duty on tea, and linked this proposal with plans to remodel colonial government. "The Effect of the Townshend Acts in Pennsylvania. 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. Historians vary slightly as to which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five are often listed:[2]. 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. [52] Dickinson warned colonists not to concede to the taxes just because the rates were low, since this would set a dangerous precedent. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including the following: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. … The Townshend act led to new protests in the American Colonies. Bostonians, already angry because the captain of the Romney had been impressing local sailors, began to riot. [27] The Revenue Act also reaffirmed the legality of writs of assistance, or general search warrants, which gave customs officials broad powers to search houses and businesses for smuggled goods. The acts posed an immediate threat to established traditions of colonial self-government, especially the practice of taxation through representative provincial assemblies. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. This form of revenue generation was Townshend's response to the failure of the Stamp Act of 1765, which had provided the first form of direct taxation placed upon the colonies. Colonial indignation over the acts was expressed in John Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania and in the Massachusetts Circular Letter. Since tea smuggling had become a common and successful practice, Parliament realized how difficult it was to enforce the taxing of tea. These import taxes were forthrightly declared to be for the purpose of…, 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. [78] After debate, the Repeal Act[79] received the Royal Assent on 12 April 1770.[80]. It was not passed until 6 July 1768, a full year after the other four. These measures exacerbated American discontent, though Parliament was not made to realize how much until 1774.…. The decisions were made solely by the judge, without the option of trial by jury, which was considered to be a fundamental right of British subjects. Townshend Acts, 1767, originated by Charles Townshend and passed by the English Parliament shortly after the repeal of the Stamp Act. The Assembly avoided conceding the right of Parliament to tax the colonies by making no reference to the Quartering Act when appropriating this money; they also passed a resolution stating that Parliament could not constitutionally suspend an elected legislature. 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 the collection of revenue duties. It created a new Customs Board for the North American colonies, to be headquartered in Boston with five customs commissioners. British exports to the colonies declined by 38 percent in 1769, but there were many merchants who did not participate in the boycott. In 1767, British Parliament passed on the Townshend acts. The taxes were placed on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea. Because of this, some scholars do not include the Vice-Admiralty Court Act with the other Townshend Acts, but most do since it deals with the same issues. The members met at Raleigh Tavern and adopted a boycott agreement known as the "Association". One act placed tax on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported to the colonies. It placed taxes on glass, lead, painters' colors, paper, and tea. Take advantage of our Presidents' Day bonus! Due to the distance, enforcement was poor, taxes were avoided and smuggling was rampant. The revenue-producing tea levy, the American Board of Customs and, most important, the principle of making governors and magistrates independent all remained. [17], The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes simply known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act 1767. It lowered commercial duties on tea imported to England by the East India Company and gave the company a refund of the duty for tea that was then exported to the colonies. Corrections? However, the import duty on tea was retained in order to demonstrate to the colonists that Parliament held the sovereign authority to tax its colonies, in accordance with the Declaratory Act of 1766. Incidents between customs and officials, military personnel and colonists broke out across the colonies, eventually leading to the occupation of Boston by British troops. [50], The most influential colonial response to the Townshend Acts was a series of twelve essays by John Dickinson entitled "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania", which began appearing in December 1767. This tax cut in England would be partially offset by the new Revenue Act taxes on tea in the colonies. 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. Fund Raising The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenues among the colonies and use them to pay the salaries of judges and governors to enable them to have colonial rule independence. It forbade the New York Assembly and the governor of New York from passing any new bills until they agreed to comply with the Quartering Act 1765, which required them to pay for and provide housing, food and supplies for British troops in the colony. Boston merchants organized the first non-importation agreement, which called for merchants to suspend importation of certain British goods effective 1 January 1768. 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. The Townshend duty on tea was retained when the 1773 Tea Act was passed, which allowed the East India Company to ship tea directly to the colonies. [65], On 10 June 1768, customs officials seized the Liberty, a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock, on allegations that the ship had been involved in smuggling. In fact, the modification of the Townshend Duties Act was scarcely any change at all.[81]. The Act was not passed by Parliament, but by the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, with the approval of the King. "Never could a fateful measure have had a more quiet passage", wrote historian Peter Thomas. The … Initially the Townshend acts were meant to replace the Stamp Act to raise revenues for the crown. 'Indemnity' means 'security or protection against a loss or other financial burden'. The British American colonists named the acts after Charles Townshend, who sponsored them. [24], The Revenue Act was passed in conjunction with the Indemnity Act 1767,[25] which was intended to make the tea of the British East India Company more competitive with smuggled Dutch tea. ", Chaffin, Robert J. These courts were run by judges appointed by the Crown and who were awarded 5% of any fine the judge levied[16] when they found someone guilty. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Townshend act led to new protests in the American Colonies. [62] The boycott movement began to fail by 1770, and came to an end in 1771. [67] Parliament had determined that the Treason Act 1543 was still in force, which would allow Bostonians to be transported to England to stand trial for treason. 35 answers Do you think Woodrow Wilson made the right decision to keep America out of world war 1 for as long as he did? 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. For England they gave greater control over the colonies; for the colonists they caused distress and anger. "[48] 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 Acts “No taxation without representation protests in Boston” In 1767, a year after the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament approved another revenue raising taxation in the colonies, the Townshend Acts . The Townshend Acts (/ˈtaʊnzənd/)[1] or Townshend Duties, refers to a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 relating to the British colonies in America. The Townsend Acts placed taxes on British exports to North America. Until this time, all items had to be shipped to England first from wherever they were made, and then re-exported to their destination, including to the colonies. In a simple sentence, the Townshend Act of 1767 passed to impose heavy indirect taxes on the American colonists and keep proving the British Parliament’s authority over them. The Board was created to enforce shipping regulations and increase tax revenue. The Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. Part of the purpose of the entire series of Townshend Acts was to save the company from imploding. Updates? The Indemnity Act was 7 Geo. [78] 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 Americans". By a vote of 92 to 17, the House refused to comply, and Bernard promptly dissolved the legislature. Before the Act, customs violators could be tried in an admiralty court in Halifax, Nova Scotia, if royal prosecutors believed they would not get a favorable outcome using a local judge and jury. It was an incentive for the colonists to purchase the East India Company tea. The American Board of Customs Commissioners was notoriously corrupt, according to historians. "[32], Some members of Parliament objected because Townshend's plan was expected to generate only £40,000 in yearly revenue, but he explained that once the precedent for taxing the colonists had been firmly established, the program could gradually be expanded until the colonies paid for themselves. [13], The British East India Company was one of England's largest companies, but was on the verge of collapse due to much cheaper smuggled Dutch tea. Like the Stamp Act in 1765, the Townshend Acts led many colonists to work together against what they perceived to be an unconstitutional measure, generating the second major crisis in British Colonial America. "The Townshend Acts of 1767.". They placed an indirect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, all of which had to be imported from Britain. Following the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the British government was deep in debt. What did the Townshend Acts (1767) do? The townshend act was an indirect tax on consumer goods, so paint, lead, and all that good stuff. These taxes mainly imposed on some very necessary goods; such as tea, paper, glass, lead, paint, etc. The New York Restraining Act was never implemented because the New York Assembly acted in time. The Americans claimed they were not represented in Parliament, but the British government retorted that they had "virtual representation", a concept the Americans rejected. If you look at a deck of cards in the box or at a bottle of liquor you will notice an odd looking piece of paper over the top. The Townshend Acts involved five laws namely the Revenue Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act, the New York Restraining Act, the Commissioners of Customs Act, and the Vice Admiralty Court Act. American resentment, corrupt British officials, and abusive enforcement spurred colonial attacks on British ships, including the burning of the Gaspee in 1772. Townshend also faced the problem of what to do about the New York Provincial Assembly, which had refused to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act because its members saw the act's financial provisions as levying an unconstitutional tax. [51] Eloquently articulating ideas already widely accepted in the colonies,[51] Dickinson argued that there was no difference between "internal" and "external" taxes, and that any taxes imposed on the colonies by Parliament for the sake of raising a revenue were unconstitutional. [6] This issue, only briefly debated following the Sugar Act, became a major point of contention after Parliament's passage of the Stamp Act 1765. Chaffin, Robert J. Chaffin, Robert J. Herein, what were some of the effects of the Townshend Acts? [69], Even before the Liberty riot, Hillsborough had decided to send troops to Boston. The Townshend Acts consisted of the Suspending Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, and the … [14], This act was passed on 29 June 1767 also. But with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising revenue. [47], 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. Implicit in the Stamp Act dispute was an issue more fundamental than taxation and representation: the question of the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies. American colonists argued that there were constitutional issues involved.[5]. Compensating for the loss of revenue brought about by the Indemnity Act was another reason for the imposition of the Townshend duties. [33] According to historian Peter Thomas, Townshend's "aims were political rather than financial". The British government continued to tax the American colonies without providing representation in Parliament. These acts placed a tax only on imported goods like paper, glass, tea, and lead. [43] Before this act, there was just one vice admiralty court in North America, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Political scientist Peter Andreas argues: Another measure to enforce the trade laws was the Vice Admiralty Court Act 1768. 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 the collection of revenue duties. [37] The American Customs Board would generate considerable hostility in the colonies towards the British government. III ch. [26] The Indemnity Act repealed taxes on tea imported to England, allowing it to be re-exported more cheaply to the colonies. According to historian John C. Miller, "Townshend ingeniously sought to take money from Americans by means of parliamentary taxation and to employ it against their liberties by making colonial governors and judges independent of the assemblies. ), and other necessities. The Grafton ministry adopted an energetic American policy, thanks in part to Townshend, who pushed through Parliament in the spring of 1767... 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. It gave Royal naval courts, rather than colonial courts, jurisdiction over all matters concerning customs violations and smuggling. [59], Merchants in the colonies, some of them smugglers, organized economic boycotts to put pressure on their British counterparts to work for repeal of the Townshend Acts. [56] Virginia and Pennsylvania also sent petitions to Parliament, but the other colonies did not, believing that it might have been interpreted as an admission of Parliament's sovereignty over them. Established an American Customs Board in Boston to collect taxes. The Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 placed import duties on items such as glass, lead, paint, and paper. Lord Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, after whom the Townshend Acts were named, had died suddenly in September 1767. "The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770." With John Adams serving as his lawyer, Hancock was prosecuted in a highly publicized trial by a vice-admiralty court, but the charges were eventually dropped. "The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770". In April 1768 he sent a letter to the colonial governors in America, instructing them to dissolve the colonial assemblies if they responded to the Massachusetts Circular Letter. 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. It was the second time in the history of the colonies that a tax had been levied solely for the purpose of raising revenue. What did the Townshend Act give British officials the right to do? [75] Although British soldiers were not involved in that incident, resentment against the occupation escalated in the days that followed, resulting in the killing of five civilians in the Boston Massacre of 5 March 1770. The Townshend Acts, passed in 1767 and 1768, were designed to raise revenue for the British Empire by taxing its North American colonies.

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