The Townshend Acts

The Townshend Acts had an interesting history. The Townshend Acts of 1767 were originated by Charles Townshend and passed by the English Parliament shortly after the failed Stamp Act. They were designed to collect money from the colonists in America by putting

Townshend Acts: The king’s finance minister Charles Townshend told Parliament that he had a way to raise revenue in the colonies. So in 1767, Parliament passed his plan, known as the Townshend Acts. It included suspension of New York’s assembly until New Yorkers agreed to provide housing for the troops, placed duties, or import taxes, on various goods brought into the colonies, such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. The money raised would be used to pay the salaries of British governors and other officials in the colonies. Protests immediately broke out at news of the Townshend Acts.

The American colonies had good reason to suspect some other motives were at play in Britain and with their fears came more taxes. With their ever-growing belief that in some way Britain was devising a plan to seize their liberties, colonists started to boycott British luxury goods so Britain would have to stop the taxes since they would not be making revenue. However, this did not stop Parliament from adding new taxes to the list. In 1767, the Townshend Revenue Acts were imposed and set a new series of taxes on the colonists to offset the costs of administering and protecting the American colonies. Items taxed include imports such as paper, tea, glass, lead and paints. The restrictions Britain

This act taxed paper products and official documents in colonies and it was very unpopular. It taxed such things like cards, paper, cash, etc. When the colonists opposed this act they reacted very strongly to it. Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams spoke out against the Stamp Act. From this act the Townshend Act was established, in 1767. In this act Parliament repealed the stamp act, so the Townshend act was put in their place. It taxed imports of lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea. The colonists boycotted the purchase of these goods in protest, and said, "No taxation without

After the stamp act was repealed, the Declaratory Act of 1766 was put into action, which was Britain’s attempt to save face. It essentially said that Parliament had the power to impose laws in the colonies in any case. Part of this act was the Townshend acts that came a year later; the acts introduced taxes on paper, tea, etc. that were imported to the colonies. Americans viewed this as abuse of power and they took in fewer imports as a result.

So, Britain decided to create another tax for the colonists. This time they decided to increase the value of glass, lead, paints, paper and tea by passing the Townshend Acts on 1767. Many colonists became angrier since they saw taxation as an abuse of power by the British. To show that angriness the Boston merchants once more started boycotting British goods. In 1768 the Massachusetts assembly was dissolved because a circular letter wrote by Samuel Adams was sent to other colonies explaining the situation.

Townshend replied 1770 because of the therisons as a resultof the Boston Massacre. The main purpose of the Townshend Act was to raise revenue in thecolonists to pay the salaries of governors and judges so that they would remain loyal to GreatBritian to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations to punishthe province of New York for failing to comply with the 1765.Paragraph #9 The Boston MassacreColonists in Boston tout and insulted British soldiers. The colonists threw things at themlike rocks and hard snow some scared them by waving their bats ( rug beaters) in the air. Soon itended as a physical

The Townshend act was proclaimed in 1767. The colonists viewed it as an abuse of power after the last acts. The act was eventually repealed but left the tax on tea. Some of the imported items that it taxed were: glass, lead, paints, paper and tea.

In 1767 saw a series of other measures containing contradictory factors. Charles Townshend, the British finance minister, has been trying to build a new fiscal program after repeatedly protesting heavy taxation in the country. With the intention of tax cuts for the British by imposing a more radical tax on the US trade, Charles Townshend tightened tariffs and imposed import duties on the colonies when importing items. British as paper, glass, lead and tea. The Townshend Act was made with the argument that taxes on imported goods of the colonies were legal, but domestic taxes (such as stamp duty) were not legal.

The townshend act was taxation without representation. The British placed a tax on glass, paint, paper, and tea, all items imported from Britain. Patriots took matter into their own hands and boycotted

After about 4 years the Townshend acts were passed. The Townshend acts were originated by Charles Townshend. They were meant to add even more taxes on all imported goods, which makes everything almost double the original price. Great Britain needed to pass this act because they still had so much of the debt to pay ofF. This was a huge financial burden for the colonists. There were many violent protests.This act eventually led to the Boston tea

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

Three years later more duties were imposed on the colonies through the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on lead glass, paper, and tea. It reorganized the American Customs Service, which enforced the Navigation Act, the Sugar Act, and now the Townshend Acts. The Americans responded to this in many ways, but primarily by boycotting all British goods and by implementing a non-importation agreement. After losing much money, the British decided to repeal the Townshend duties and others, except

The Townshend Acts were meant to replace the Stamp Act, which was repealed in 1766. These new acts greatly angered the Bostonians.

Parliament imposed the Townshend Act, which raised taxes on imported goods. According to John Dickinson, Parliament was justified in imposing the Stamp Act on the colonies. “Never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the Stamp Act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising a revenue” (Doc2).