Townshend Acts

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The Townshend Acts are the commonly used name for two Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1767 having been proposed by Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, just before his death. These laws placed a tax on common products imported into the American Colonies, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea (though they did not place a tax on silk). In contrast to the Stamp Act of 1765, the laws were not a direct tax, but a tax on imports. The Townshend Acts also created three new admiralty courts to try Americans who ignored the laws.

The Acts led to outrage among the colonists and helped spark the "Liberty" seizure and riots of 1768. The colonists's opposition to these acts was well stated in the phrase "No taxation without representation," originally spoken by James Otis. Smugglers avoided the taxes by importing illegal goods and by organizing a boycott of the legitimate imports. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty of Boston were notable supporters of this boycott. Economic pressure from the boycott caused several entities in Britain to press for repeal. Eventually, John Dickinson (1732-1808) raised support to repeal the Townshend Acts by a series of 12 essays entitled "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania," addressing himself as "A Farmer". The only act remaining was the tax on tea.

The Tea Act was designed to protect the British East India Company's tea trade by exempting it from three-pence tax on tea. Thereby, the British East India Company undercut the prices of other importers which led to adverse economic consequences for the American colonists and the Boston Tea Party.