The Townshend Acts (1767) refer to two Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed on July 2, 1767, originally proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend.1,These laws placed a tax on common products imported into the American Colonies, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea, while giving revenues from these taxes to the British governors and other officials that were normally paid by town assemblies. When Virginia's royal governor, Norborne Berkeley,Lord Boretourt discovered that prominent figures in Virginia society intended to resist the Act, he dissolved the House of Burgesses. The representatives thereupon marched down the street to reassemble at a private home. There they issued the Virginia Nonimportation Resolution and signed by the colony's "principle gentlemen"; among whom were Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Carter Braxton, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington.2
This could be considered taking the 'power of the purse' of these colonial assemblies. In contrast to the Stamp Act of 1765, the laws were not a direct tax, but rather a tax on imports.3 The Townshend Acts also created three new admiralty courts to try Americans and reaffirmed the legality of writs of assistance, which gave tax collectors permission to search for smuggled goods (these smuggled goods would be sold in England and the European countryside for profit to Britain).
The Townshend Acts represent the continued efforts of Parliament to place a portion of the large debt incurred by French and Indian War on the American colonies where it had been fought. However, the Acts provoked only further outrage among American colonists and helped spark the Liberty seizure and riots of 1768, their opposition best stated by the phrase "No taxation without representation" originally spoken by James Otis. Smugglers, who were negatively affected by the Acts, avoided the taxes by importing illegal goods and by organizing a boycott of the legitimate imports, of which Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty of Boston were notable supporters. Women also contributed by producing their own goods or relying on domestic products, e.g. spinning their own yarn and cloth, as well as participating in their own organizations such as the Daughters of Liberty. John Dickinson helped also raised support among the colonists through a series of 12 essays entitled "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania", addressing himself as "A Farmer".4
In April 1770, this Act was repealed, with the exception of a tax that was retained on tea (which would eventually lead to the Boston Tea Party).5
Reference
^ "The Townshend Acts". American Revolution Homepage. Retrieved on 2008-10-18.
^ Breen, T.H., "Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of the Revolution:, (Princeton University Press, 1985) p. 191
^ "Townshend Acts". Patriot Resource. Retrieved on 2008-10-18.
