10 Facts About Townshend Acts

Townshend Acts'storians vary slightly as to which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five are often listed:.

Townshend Acts met stiff resistance in the colonies, and public opposition to them was widely debated in colonial newspapers.

Opponents of the Townshend Acts gradually became violent, leading to the Boston Massacre of 1770.

The Townshend Acts placed an indirect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, all of which had to be imported from Britain.

Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Townshend Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire.

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Original stated purpose of the Townshend Acts duties was to raise a revenue to help pay the cost of maintaining an army in North America.

Townshend Acts changed the purpose of the tax plan and instead decided to use the revenue to pay the salaries of some colonial governors and judges.

Townshend Acts faced the problem of what to do about the New York General Assembly, which had refused to comply with the Quartering Act 1765 because its members saw the act's financial provisions as levying an unconstitutional tax.

The New York Restraining Act, which according to historian Robert Chaffin was "officially a part of the Townshend Acts", suspended the power of the Assembly until it complied with the Quartering Act.

Townshend Acts sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard, instructing him to have the Massachusetts House rescind the Circular Letter.