Townshend Acts

The Townshends Acts are a series of Acts passed beginning in 1767, by the British Parliament to raise money from the colonies. They are called Townshend Acts because of Charles Townshend the chancellor who proposed this series of acts. The Townshend Acts were five laws: The Revenue Act of 1767, The Indemnity Act, The Commissioners of Customs Act, The ViceAdmiralty Court Act, and The New York Restraining Act. The sole purpose of these acts were to raise money to pay for the governors and judges salaries. The Revenue Act, was levied when Charles Townshend thought the colonists had previously had a problem with the Stamp Act because it was direct tax. He thought if the tax was indirect, which meant taxes on imports the colonists would agree. The parliament put duties on: paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. The Indemnity Act planned to mae the tea from the British East India Company more competitive to the smmugled dutch tea. At first, the money collected from these acts would help support the british military who was in America taing care of the colonists. Townshend then changed the purpose to pay for some judges and governors. This angered the colonists significantly. These acts caused lots of riots in Boston principally. Some of them are the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Massacre.