What Were The 5 Townshend Acts?

So, what were the five laws that came under the Townshend Acts of 1767?

Here we have shared in-depth what they are and how they really influenced the history of America.

The Five Laws of The Townshend Acts

1. The New York Restraining Act of 1767

The New York Restraining Act of 1767 was the very first Townshend act among all the five. The Parliament of Great Britain passed it on 5th June.

This act intercepted New York’s assembly to pass any bills. Historians believe, the interception of the New York assembly was a retaliation from the British Parliament for not implementing the Quartering act of 1765. However, the New York Restraining Act never came into force.

2. The Revenue Act of 1767

The Revenue Act of 1767 was the second Townshend act, passed on the 26th of July. They passed it to impose indirect taxes on the American colonists. The Revenue Act mainly taxed some necessary goods, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, etc.

On top of that, the act provided the English customs officials exclusive rights to punish the smugglers and search private property and vessels without any special search warrant (the act provided them with a General search warrant).

It angered the American people to a great extent, especially merchants were unhappy because most of them were making money via smuggling. 

3. The Indemnity Act of 1767

The English Parliament passed the Indemnity act of 1767 on 29th June. Its main purpose was to protect and enforce British Mercantilism policies. Some giant English companies, such as the British East India Company, enjoyed special privileges to dominate markets through the new law.

The English government did it by reducing these companies’ taxes on imports and exports. The act primarily intended to monopolize the whole tea market in their colonies of North America.

It was an initiative from the British Parliament to make colonists bound to buy only East India Company’s tea. The indemnity act was an attack on all other tea businesses of the 13 colonies.

4. The Commissioners of Customs Act of 1767

On the same day of the Indemnity act passed, the British Parliament also passed the Commissioners of Customs act. The date was 29th June 1767.

Its main purpose was to create a new custom board in the 13 colonies so that they can squeeze shipping regulations more and impose heavy taxes on the colonists.

The Commissioners of Customs Act ordered the appointment of 5 commissioners to get the work done. Its headquarter was in Boston.

Before the act passed, the customs enforcement office was located in Britain. But because of the long distance, their actions on shipping regulations and taxes were quite weaker.

For this reason, it was much harder to prevent customs law violations and smuggling. So, to make this process stronger and easier, they passed this new act and moved the office to Boston, Massachusetts.

5. The Vice-Admiralty Court Act of 1768

The Vice-Admiralty Court Act of 1768 was the last act of the five Townshend acts. This was approved on 6th July. The Parliament of Great Britain didn’t pass it.

It came into effect through the approval of British King George III. The Vice-Admiralty Court Act of 1768 targeted ending smuggling and customs violation.

However, due to the sudden death of Lord Charles Townshend in 1767’s September month, some people don’t want to include it in the list of Townshend acts; even after, it had similar intent to the other four.

Colonists were angry as it encouraged royally appointed officials and judges to accuse colonists without any custom crime.

The new law promised a 5 percent commission as an award to the officials if they were able to convict a colonist in a smuggling or customs law violation case.

What Was The Extreme Result of The Townshend Acts?

The extreme result of the 5 Townshend Acts was widespread protest and violence throughout all 13 colonies.

On 5th March 1770, a protest took violent form, where some British red coats shot and killed 5 protestors including 6 injured.

In the history of America, the killing is infamous as the Boston Massacre. As a result, on 12th April 1770, the British Parliament had to partially repeal the 5 bad laws.