Why Was The Townshend Act Passed?

211 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Who led the colonial townshend act protest

What is the Townshend Act? (1764) The Townshend act is an act that made the Colonists pay taxes for many imported goods such as glass, lead, and other crucial materials that the colonists of America needed. The taxes were made in order to help pay for the funding of British soldiers sailing from their homeland to America in order to make sure that Colonial America was behaving. The leader that had made this frowned upon act was called Charles Townshend and was one of the few leaders in Parliament to combat the American colonies. Why was the Townshend Act passed? The Townshend act was passed in order to “lower imperial costs” or also known to help lower expenses of the soldiers travelling to America making sure that the Americans know who

Show More
Related

  • The Causes of the American Revolution

    493 Words  | 1 Pages

    The colonist boycotted British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed but quickly replaced by the Declaratory Act in 1766. The British still held onto the conviction that they had the right to tax the Americans in any way they deemed necessary. The Declaratory Act was followed by the Townshend Acts of 1767. This imposed taxes on all imported goods from Britain, which caused the colonies to refuse trading with Britain. Six years passed before another upsetting act was passed.

    Read More

  • How Did The Townshend Act Contribute To American Revolution

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Passed in 1767, the Townshend Acts put taxes on several basic items that, to obtain them, needed to be imported. These items included glass, paper, lead, and tea. The British planned out the Townshend Acts a little differently than they had previously planned other acts. They passed the Townshend Acts in a way for them to still make money, but to avoid direct conflict with the colonists. The British thought that if they taxed imported items, as opposed to taxing items produced in the colonies (like the Stamp Act did), that the colonists wouldn’t have as much hostility towards the act. The second part of the Townshend Acts was sending of troops and warships to Boston. In September of 1768, warships arrived in Boston harbor carrying four thousand troops. The soldiers came to keep structure after all the colonists’ chaotic reactions of the past acts. The establishment of the Writs of Assistance was the last part of the Townshend Acts. British soldiers used the Writs of Assistance to search colonists’ houses for smuggled goods. After the British passed the Townshend Acts, the colonists had several reactions in response to them. One reaction was boycotting. This colonial boycott was on all imported British goods, and it was extremely widespread. The boycott encouraged more colonists to join the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, which lead to many colonists replacing items, which they would normally buy from British merchants, with homemade versions. These items included fabrics, candles, and tea. Another reaction was non-importation agreements. Non-importation agreements are written agreements that said that whoever signed one would not purchase items from British merchants until they got representation in British Parliament. A tremendous amount of colonists signed these agreements, and those who didn’t were sometimes harassed or had their property destroyed. Similarly,

    Read More

  • Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dawes Severalty Act (1887). In the past century, with the end of the warfare between the United. States and Indian tribes and nations, the United States of America. continued its efforts to acquire more land for the Indians. About this time the government and the Indian reformers tried to turn Indians.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The American Revolution

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was not all as good for the Colonies as it seemed, however, for with that came the Declarative Act. The Declarative Act states that, “That the King 's Majesty, by and with the consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever” (Temperley). This nullified any progress the House of Burgesses had accomplished. There was still hope however for the King George III appointed a new minister. He made a name for him self in the Colonies in the French and Indian War. He was sympathetic to the Colonies and was a supporter in repealing the Stamp Act. His name was William Pitt. Unfortunately for the Colonists, he fell ill shortly after taking office and passed and was replaced by Townshend. Townshend had quite the opposite views as Pitt. He supported generating yet even more revenue from the Colonies. He adds taxes on lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea. He also set out to quell the power of the upstart American assemblies. He used the New York legislature to set a bold example. The New York legislature was not recognizing the Quartering Act. Townshend suspended the Assembly until they submitted and agreed to recognize and follow the act. Such

    Read More

  • British Law In The Late 1800's

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    The system of crime and law enforcement had hardly changed in Britain since the medieval times. Justices of the Peace or JPs were appointed by the Crown since 1361. Before the night watchmen and parish constables were introduced a primitive police force was introduced and the JPs were assisted by constables who only worked part time and were very unreliable as the pay was really bad. The early stages of the force consisted of a night watchmen and parish constables, who were prior to the creation of the main police force. Watchmen were groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement. Constables were required to apprehend anyone accused of a felony and bring criminals to a justice of the peace. They also had a general responsibility to keep the peace. There was no expectation that they would investigate and prosecute crimes because of limited responsibility and training. Night watchmen patrolled the streets between 9 or 10pm until sunrise and were expected to examine all suspicious characters. In the City of London, the City Marshall and the Beadles (Parish wardens) conducted daytime patrols. Similar to the night watchmen, primary responsibilities were to patrol and deter, drunkenness, beggars, vagrants and prostitutes and to act as a deterrent against more serious offences. Over the course of this period, the arrangements by which men served as constables and watchmen changed significantly, to incorporate how felons were detected and apprehended.

    Read More

  • Foner's 'Homespun Virtue'

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    As it was universally hated by all colonists and colonies, there was a large movement to repeal it (the Sons of Liberty among other movements). Britain rescinded this act, but then replaced it with the Townshend Acts, leading to further cooperation and rebellion. Foner explains why suddenly colonists began to cooperate and see themselves as American, “Many Americans concluded that Britain was succumbing to the same pattern of political corruption and decline of liberty that afflicted other countries. The overlap of the Townshend crisis with a controversy in Britain over the treatment of John Wilkes reinforced this sentiment… In addition rumors circulated in the colonies that the Anglican Church in England planned to send bishops to America… which sparked fears that the bishops would establish religious courts like those that had once punished dissenters.” (Foner

    Read More

  • The Townshed Act and the Boston Massacre

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1767, the British Parliament passed the Townshend Act which was simply a way to receive more income by over taxing colonists. The Townshend Act was established by a man named Charles Townshend. This Act taxed things like oil, paint, glass, lead, paper, and tea. Boston me...

    Read More

  • The American Colonists Were Justified In The Revolutionary War

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    They were in desperate need of money. He created many acts including, The Stamp Act, The Quartering Act, and also The Proclamation of 1763. The Quartering Act forced the colonists to quarter the soldiers. The colonists were compelled to provide a living space and supplies for the British soldiers.

    Read More

  • American Rebellion In 1776

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first time a Parliamentary imposed tax threatened the livelihood of the colonies was in 1733 with the Molasses Act, stemmed from the loss of profit for the British West Indies under the Navigation Act. However, this act was avoidable and rarely paid. Following the long and harrowing French and Indian War, Britain was deep in debt and George Grenville was appointed British Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was determined to pay off the debt by taxing the colonies. He not only reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts, but he placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act which put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies, but this Act would be enforced. Needless to say, the colonists were not used to this intrusion of Parliament and felt that it was wrong because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. They felt it was a direct violation of their civil liberties and resentment was beginning to spawn. Next was the Currency Act which disregarded the colonies paper money, forcing the colonist to pay in only silver and sending their economy into chaos. A year later, Grenville imposed the Quartering Act which forced the colonists to house and accommodate the British military stationed in their area. It was a slap in the face to have to pay for those who stood for everything the colonists despised. Perhaps the most important and controversial acts were the Stamps Acts that placed a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspaper, pamphlets, playing cards and dice.

    Read More

  • Stamp Act

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Stamp Act was an act that was passed by the British Parliament that was to go into effect on November 1st, 1765. This act was created to help pay the costs to govern and protect the American colonies. The Stamp Act required stamps to be placed on all legal and commercial documents and various articles. Many colonists did not want the act to be implemented. For that reason, Samuel Adams put together the Sons of Liberty to help abolish this law. Then the Stamp Act Congress was composed to completely repeal the act. The Stamp Act was one of the many taxes that the British Parliament put on the colonies as a source of wealth. This act made it necessary for colonists to put stamps on almost all written documents and other various articles.

    Read More

  • The Boston Massacre

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and important shipping town, was a major center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760s2. In 1768, the Townshend Acts were placed upon the colonists, by which a variety of common items that were manufactured in Britain and exported to the colonies were subjected to import tariffs3. The Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Townshend Acts by sending a petition to King George III asking for the repeal of the act. The House also sent what became known as the Massachusetts Circular Letter to other colonial assemblies, asking them to join the resistance movement, and called for a boycott of merchants importing the affected goods. As a response, Lord Hillsborough, who was the leader of the office of Colonial Secretary, was forced to take action. In April 1768, Hillsborough sent a letter to the colonial governors in America instructing them to dissolve the colonial assemblies responsible for the repeal4. When the house of colonial governors refused to comply and rescind the letter. Hillsborough then stated...

    Read More

  • Timeline of Events Leading to the American Revolution

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    1765- The Stamp Act is passed. The Stamp Act was passed as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. The colonists were the ones paying for the troops and they violently protested the Act.

    Read More

  • King George III

    445 Words  | 1 Pages

    insolence. Using his profound influence, he pushed through the Townshend Acts, in 1766, taxing many commodity items

    Read More

  • The Start of America's Industrial Revolution

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to continue controlling the economy of its colonies in America, the British Parliament passed acts and levied taxes against the colonists from the first Navigation Act as early as 1651. The British passed this series of ...

    Read More

  • What Provoked the British Colonists in the Americas to Rebel against the Crown

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the Seven Years Way England was broke for she had spent more money needed to win the war. Also winning the war gave the colonist a “we can do it spirit”. However because England now was facing debt she decided to tax the colonies. One the first acts passed was the sugar act passed in 1764. This Act was the raise revenue in American colonies. What it did was lowered the tax from six penses to three penses per gallon on foreign molasses. Molasses is a product made by refining sugarcane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. This upset the colonist because before the sugar act they didn’t have to pay the tax so even if it was lowered that meant nothing for they now had to pay for it. A year later, in 1765, the Britain’s passed another act known as the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act put a tax on stamped paper, publications, playing cards, etc. Because it was on all paper products in a way it affected everyone; from the papers for the upper class such as lawyers, publications such as newspapers for the middle class, and playing cards for the lower class for entertainment. Next, the Townshend Act passed by Charles Townshend. This came in 1767, which imposed taxes on colonial tea, lead, paint, paper, and glass which just like the Stamp Act affected all of the classes in the colonist in the Americas. Though this act was removed three years later in 1770, it still left colonists with a warning that conditions may become worse. Around 1773, parliament passed the Intolerable Acts one of those acts which affected taxation was the Bost...

    Read More

More about Why Was The Townshend Act Passed?

Open Document