The Townshend Acts Replace the Stamp Act

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in June 1767, representing four measures devised by Charles
Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer. The acts had two purposes: reformation of customs policy
housepainter in the colonies and the raising of revenue through excises. The acts failed to
accomplish both goals and were repealed after three years. The longer term effects of the acts,

however, included the strengthening of colonial resistance to British tax and trade policies, British
misunderstanding of colonial complaints, and administrative divisions between the West Indies and
the continental colonies.
British Demeanor toward the American Colonies
Many Englishmen echoed the views of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who, in 1775, commented that, Those
who thus flourish under the protection of our Government should contribute something toward its
expense Britain maintained a standing army in the colonies at an estimated cost of 400,000 British
pounds per year. In the same vein as Johnson, Charles Townsend, referring to the Stamp Act, stated
And now will these Americans, children planted by our careand protected by our arms, will they
grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy weight of that burden which we lie
under?
Inadequacies of the Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts placed a new tax on certain varieties of glass, white lead, painters colors, and
77 grades of paper. All of these items were manufactured in Britain although raw materials for each
existed in the colonies and had already led to the establishment of enterprises such as paper mills.
Most of the imported paper was used for administrative purposes and never affected the colonists.
The establishment of a Board of Customs Commissions, designed to supervise a more efficient
compliance structure of existing trade policies under the Navigation Acts, sat in Boston, the hotbed
of protest. Ultimately, the Board had no power over the West Indies. According to professor
Dickerson, The actual separation of the continental colonies from the rest of the Empire dates from
the creation of this independent administrative board.
By seating the Board in Boston, Townshendensured an enforcement crisis, according to historian
Hiller Zobel. Further, the revenue generated by the acts would only generate about 40,000 British
pounds annually; at no time during the three years the act was in force did it generate more than
half of the projected revenues. Lastly, the new taxes under the acts hit hardest those regions already
carrying the major burden under the Sugar Act, which was the Boston area. According to former
Economist Assistant Editor Robert Harvey, the act affected in particular the richer merchant class
which had supported the Stamp Act riots.
The Principle of Taxation
More than anything, the Townshend Acts further nurtured the belief that the colonists were being
unfairly taxed. Despite the goal of making trade policies more efficient and reforming the Vice
Admiralty courts charged with enforcement of the Navigation Acts, rampant inefficiency, bribery,
and embezzlement plagued local customs officials and the merchants and local colonial leaders knew
this.
Townshends acts only further exacerbated violent responses promoted by local colonial
organizations like the Sons of Liberty and their ability to incite mob violence. This would ultimately
lead to confrontations with British regulars in the Boston area, culminating in the March 1770
Boston Massacre and the subsequent Tea Party in 1773. The Townsend Acts were ill-conceived and
go down in history as another stepping stone toward open rebellion by the colonists and the
outbreak of war for independence.

References:Ian R. Christie and

Benjamin W. Labaree, Empire or
Independence 1760-1776 (New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, 1976)Oliver
M. Dickerson, The Navigation Acts and
the American Revolution (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press,
1951)Robert Harvey, A Few Bloody
Noses: The Realities and Mythologies of
the American Revolution (Woodstock &
New York: The Overlook Press,
2002)Hiller B. Zobel, The Boston
Massacre (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 1970)
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