Townshend Acts
A tax that the British Parliament passed in 1767 that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1767 that placed new taxes on goods imported to the American colonies, including tea, glass, paper, and paint. The Acts were named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who introduced them.
The Townshend Acts were met with widespread protests in the American colonies, which saw the Acts as an attempt by the British government to unfairly tax them without representation in Parliament. The colonists argued that since they were not represented in the British Parliament, they should not be subject to its taxes.
The protests against the Townshend Acts ultimately led to a boycott of British goods in the colonies and heightened tensions between Britain and the American colonies. In response, British troops were sent to Boston in 1768, which set off a series of violent confrontations between the colonists and British soldiers.
The Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, except for the tax on tea, which was kept to assert British authority over the colonies. The tax on tea ultimately led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and, in turn, the American Revolution.
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