When was townshend acts passed

On 29 June Parliament passes the Townshend Acts. They bear the name of Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is—as the chief treasurer of the British Empire—in charge of economic and financial matters. With the repeal of the Stamp Act, money is needed for "defraying the expenses" of administering the colonies in America. Bostonians meet in Faneuil Hall the next October to consider a petition brought by fellow townsmen. It addresses a key issue raised by the Act— "the excessive use of foreign superfluities" —and the extent to which this has increased the colonists' reliance on and subjugation to Britain.

From Philadelphia come a series of twelve letters from "a Farmer in Pennsylvania. They are among the most widely read publications of the period. The "Farmer" is John Dickinson, a London-educated lawyer who has been a member of Pennsylvania's assembly. As New York is being punished by the Townshend Acts, Dickinson warns that "the cause of one is the cause of all. As tensions grew, the board asked for naval and military assistance, which arrived in Customs officials seized the sloop Liberty , owned by John Hancock, on charges of smuggling.

This action as well as the impressments of local sailors into the British Navy led to a riot. The subsequent arrival and quartering of additional troops in the city was one of the factors that led to the Boston Massacre in Although portions of the Townshend Acts were repealed, the tax on tea and special indemnity awarded to the British East India Company was retained. The Tea Act enabled the company to import tea directly into the Colonies, which furthered harmed Colonial shipping companies.

This legislation set the stage for the Boston Tea Party, a pivotal moment on the path toward American independence. Colonists believed that the naval courts were not a fair venue for these cases. The word tax used in the Stamp Act had caused so much resentment that the British government repealed the act within a year. This show of force further angered colonists and led to incidents like the Boston Massacre. The delay in communication occurred because of the time it took for news to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

The British government used the legislation to show that it had the right and power to tax the Colonies as it wished. Ask about our Virtual Tour programming! Tour Hours: 10am - 4pm. English French German Italian Spanish. Join Our Cast. However, these policies prompted colonists to take action by boycotting British goods. He died suddenly in September , before the detrimental effects of his signature rules could materialize.

The Townshend duties went into effect on November 20, , close on the heels of the Declaratory Act of , which stated that British Parliament had the same authority to tax the American colonies as they did in Great Britain.

By December, two widely circulated documents had united colonists in favor of a boycott of British goods. With the exception of necessities, such as fishing hooks and wire, New England merchants agreed not to import British goods for one year.

New York followed suit in April, with an even more restrictive non-importation agreement. In response to protests and boycotts, the British sent troops to occupy Boston and quell the unrest. By , more than 2, British troops had arrived in Boston to restore order—a large number considering only about 16, people lived in Boston at the time. Skirmishes between patriot colonists and British soldiers—as well as colonists loyal to the British Crown—became increasingly common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized stores selling British goods and intimidated store merchants and their customers.

Tensions between the colonists and British troops finally boiled over on March 5, , when British soldiers shot into an angry mob, killing five American colonists in an event known as the Boston Massacre.

All of the Townshend Acts—except for the tax on tea—were repealed in April The tax on tea would remain a flashpoint and a contributing factor to the Boston Tea Party of , in which angry colonists destroyed an entire shipment of tea in Boston Harbor. To quell resistant and punish the colonists—particularly the demonstrators in Boston—Parliament passed The Coercive Acts of , which colonists referred to as the Intolerable Acts.

The four Intolerable Acts included the Massachusetts Government Act, instituting an appointed government over the previously-elected, local one; the Boston Port Bill closing Boston Harbor; the Administration of Justice Act, which dictated that British officials could be tried in another colony or in England if charged with capital offenses; and the Quartering Act, which said unoccupied buildings could be used to quarter British troops.

What we get wrong about taxes and the American Revolution. PBS News Hour. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Tea Act of was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government in the decade leading up to the American Revolutionary War