The Townshend Acts

A set of British laws known as the Townshend Acts were passed in 1767 and levied taxes on goods brought into the American colonies. However, American colonists who were not represented in Parliament viewed the Acts as an abuse of power. The British sent troops to America to implement the unpopular new laws in the lead-up to the American Revolutionary War, escalating tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies.

The American Colonies Act 1766, often known as the Declaratory Act, took effect the same day that the Stamp Act was repealed. It said that the British Parliament had the same jurisdiction in America as it had in the United Kingdom and that the laws made by the British Parliament were obligatory in the American colonies. The British government's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, advocated that "external" import tariffs be implemented in America instead of internal taxes. The Townshend Acts were enacted as a result. Glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, all of which had to be imported from the United Kingdom, were subjected to an indirect tax. The Townshend Acts were also controversial, and colonies retaliated by boycotting all British products that were taxed.

The Townshend Acts were similarly unpopular, and colonists responded by boycotting any British products that were taxed and staging large-scale protests. In March 1770, the British Parliament removed most of the Townshend Acts' levies, but the import fee on tea was kept. This was done to show that, in line with the Declaratory Act, Parliament had the jurisdiction to tax the colonies. As a result, the struggle for taxing power continued to deteriorate the relationship between Britain and its American colonies, it's one of the major causes of the American Revolution occur.