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Townshend Acts Facts & Worksheets

The Townshend Acts of 1767 was a series of laws imposed by the British Parliament which set new import taxes on commodities imported from Great Britain.

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The Townshend Acts were a set of British Parliamentary acts, sometimes known as Townshend Duties. It was principally made up of the New York Restraining Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, the Commissioners of Customs Act, and the Vice-Admiralty Court Act, all of which were enacted in 1767 and 1768. These acts established a set of levies and restrictions to fund the administration of the British colonies in America. The Acts were named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who introduced the program.

See the fact file below for more information about Townshend Acts, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.

Key Facts & Information

Townshend Acts

  • It was widely debated in colonial newspapers because there was widespread opposition to the Acts, including from the colonies and the general public, who became increasingly violent, culminating in the 1770 Boston Massacre.
  • It levied an indirect tax on items that had to be imported from Britain, such as glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This was a response to the failed Stamp Act of 1765, which included the same controversial import duties.
  • The opposition expressed its displeasure by staging widespread protests and refusing to import British goods, prompting Parliament to repeal the Townshend duties.
  • Though Lord Frederick North repealed the majority of the taxes in March 1770, the import duty on tea was retained to demonstrate Parliament’s sovereign authority to levy taxes on its colonies.
  • The American colonies continued to resent, but the Tea Act of 1773 reinstated the taxation of imported tea, resulting in the Boston Tea Party, in which Bostonians destroyed a large shipment of taxed tea.

Background

  • From 1756 to 1763, the British government developed a significant amount of debt during the Seven Years’ War.
  • The British Parliament began by levying new taxes on British America’s colonies to pay off some of the debt.
  • Previously, taxation was used to regulate the empire’s trade, most notably through the Trade and Navigation Acts. However, through the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament imposed a tax for the specific purpose of raising revenue for the first time, which the American colonists opposed.
  • Following the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act of 1765 was passed, contributing to the repeal of the colonies while failing to raise the required revenue.
  • Closely related to the Stamp Act controversy, a more fundamental question arose concerning the extent of the Parliament’s authority in the colonies.
  • In response, the Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 and simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, which established the Parliament’s authority to legislate for the colonies.

Major Townshend Acts

The New York Restraining Act

  • On June 5, 1767, it was passed as the first of the Townshend Acts, which prohibited the New York Assembly and governor from passing any new bills unless they complied with the 1765 Quartering Act.
  • The Quartering Act of 1765 required New York to provide necessities such as housing, food, and supplies for British troops defending their colony.
  • New York refused to comply with the Quartering Act because they were taxed without direct representation in Parliament. They thought they did not need the British soldiers anymore since the French and Indian War had already ended.

The Revenue Act

  • On June 26, 1767, it was enacted to levy taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea and give customs officials the authority to prosecute smugglers of such goods.
  • Colonists viewed it as a threat to their British rights. The use of writs of assistance to punish the smugglers was also deemed contentious.

The Indemnity Act

  • It was enacted on June 29, 1767, to lower taxes levied on the British East India Company after they imported tea into England.
  • The main goal was to generate revenue by re-exporting tea at lower prices to the colonies and reselling it to the colonists.
  • As a result, the colonies were forced to trade exclusively with England, following the English principle of mercantilism.
  • Because of smuggled Dutch tea, the British East India Company, despite being one of the largest English companies, was on the verge of bankruptcy.
  • The Parliament recognized that taxing tea was difficult to enforce, so no new taxes were imposed on the product.
  • However, the East India Company’s tea was less expensive than smuggled tea.

The Commissioners of Customs Act

  • It was passed on June 29, 1767, to establish a new Customs Board for the North American colonies. The board was made up of five customs commissioners who would be based in Boston.
  • They were tasked with enforcing shipping regulations as well as increasing tax revenue.
  • When the new Customs Board began operations, it increased enforcement by confronting smuggling colonists, which had previously been rampant due to the Customs Board’s distance in England.
  • Boston was eventually occupied by British troops as a result of frequent clashes with customs officials, which resulted in the Boston Massacre.

The Vice-Admiralty Court Act

  • It was passed on July 6, 1768. Lord Charles Townshend, the principal author of the Townshend Acts, died in September 1767, so some scholars do not include this in the Acts.
  • Its purpose is to aid in the prosecution of smugglers by granting Royal Naval Courts jurisdiction over any matter involving customs violations and smuggling.
  • To increase the effectiveness of prosecutions, three new royal admiralty courts were established in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
  • The judges were appointed by the Crown and were paid 5% of any fine imposed on those found guilty.

Reaction to the Acts

  • Charles Townshend was aware that his program would be controversial, but he believed that the country’s superiority needed to be demonstrated.
  • A series of twelve essays written by John Dickinson was known as the most influential colonial response. It was published in December 1767 as the Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. He believed that levying taxes, whether internal or external, was unconstitutional as long as it was done to raise revenue.
  • Dickinson sent a copy of his essays to Massachusetts resident James Otis. The Massachusetts House of Representatives launched a campaign against the Acts by petitioning King George for the repeal of the Revenue Act.
  • Other colonial assemblies were also invited to join the resistance movement via letter. The colonies also sent petitions to the king.
  • Virginia and Pennsylvania submitted petitions to Parliament, which were denied consideration.
  • The actions of the Massachusetts House alarmed Lord Hillsborough, a newly appointed Colonial Secretary. In response to the Circular Letter from Massachusetts, he sent a letter to the American colonial governors in April 1768, requesting that the colonial assemblies be dissolved.
  • Hillsborough also ordered the Massachusetts House to withdraw the Circular Letter, but the House refused.
  • After hearing about the outrage among colonists in London in 1768, Benjamin Franklin wrote essays. He was requesting civility and good manners. He published essays criticizing the Townshend Acts and Hillsborough.

Partial Repeal

  • On March 5, 1770, Lord North, the new Prime Minister, proposed a partial repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act.
  • Unlike some members of Parliament who wanted to repeal the entire Townshend Acts, North saw the tea duty as the “right of taxing the Americans.”
  • On April 12, 1770, the Repeal Act received Royal Assent.
  • The duty on tea, however, was retained by the 1773 Tea Act, which allowed the East India Company to ship their product directly to the colonies.

Townshend Acts Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Townshend Acts across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Townshend Acts worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Townshend Acts of 1767, which were a series of laws imposed by the British Parliament which set new import taxes on commodities imported from Great Britain. Its enforcement further heightened tensions between England and the American colonies in the run-up to the Revolutionary War.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Looking for the Goods
  • Concur or Dissent?
  • Word Bank
  • Draw and Show
  • Who Am I?
  • More Money, More Problems
  • Women are Power
  • Fact or Propaganda?
  • Tax Me Not
  • Letter to a Farmer in Pennsylvania

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Townshend Acts do?

It levied an indirect tax on items that had to be imported from Britain, such as glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This was a response to the failed Stamp Act of 1765, which included the same controversial import duties.

What are the 4 Townshend Acts?

It was principally made up of the New York Restraining Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, the Commissioners of Customs Act, and the Vice-Admiralty Court Act, all of which were enacted in 1767 and 1768.

The Vice-Admiralty Court Act. It was passed on July 6, 1768. Lord Charles Townshend, the principal author of the Townshend Acts, died in September 1767, so some scholars do not include this in the Acts.

Why did the Townshend Act make the colonists angry?

These acts established a set of levies and restrictions to fund the administration of the British colonies in America.

What are three facts about the Townshend Act?

It levied an indirect tax on items that had to be imported from Britain, such as glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This was a response to the failed Stamp Act of 1765, which included the same controversial import duties.

The opposition expressed its displeasure by staging widespread protests and refusing to import British goods, prompting Parliament to repeal the Townshend duties.

Though Frederick repealed the majority of the taxes, Lord North in March 1770, the import duty on tea was retained to demonstrate Parliament’s sovereign authority to levy taxes on its colonies.

How did the colonists respond to the Townshend Acts?

It was widely debated in colonial newspapers because there was widespread opposition to the Acts, including from the colonies and the general public, who became increasingly violent, culminating in the 1770 Boston Massacre.

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