The Navigation Acts were
a series of laws passed by the British Parliament that imposed restrictions on colonial trade
. British economic policy was based on mercantilism
The Navigation Acts (1651, 1660) were
acts of Parliament intended to promote the self-sufficiency of the British Empire by restricting colonial trade to England and decreasing dependence on foreign imported goods
.
The Navigation Act of 1660 continued the policies set forth in the 1651 act and enumerated certain articles-
sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, and ginger
-that were to be shipped only to England or an English province.
The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, was a long series of English laws that
developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and with its own colonies
.
1673–The Act of 1673 stated that
all goods not bonded in England must have a duty and bond placed on them when the ship reached the colonies
. … A shipowner or captain who did not go to an English port would be prosecuted and would usually lose the bond.
Once under British control, regulations were imposed on the colonies that allowed the colony to produce only raw materials and to trade only with Britain. Many colonists resented the Navigation Acts
because they increased regulation and reduced their opportunities for profit, while England profited from colonial work
.
How did the acts benefit the colonies?
The Navigation Acts benefited England in that
the colonies had to purchase imports only brought by English ships and could only sale their products to England
.
In 1651, the British Parliament, in the first of what became known as the Navigation Acts, declared that
only English ships would be allowed to bring goods into England
, and that the North American colonies could only export its commodities, such as tobacco and sugar, to England.
How did the Navigation Acts Affect the colonists?
it directed the flow of goods between England and the colonies
. It told colonial merchants that they could not use foreign ships to send their goods, even if it was less expensive. … This led to smuggling because the colonists ignored the laws.
The main colonial response to the Navigation Acts was
smuggling
. Instead, England wanted all trade from the colonies to go through England first, allowing the mother country to profit off of all the trade. These laws made many colonists very angry because they curtailed the colonists’ economic opportunities.
These laws were known as Navigation Acts. Their purpose was
to regulate the trade of the empire and to enable the mother country to derive a profit from the colonies which had been planted overseas
. … Smuggling was common in the colonies and in England .
The Acts
increased colonial revenue by taxing the goods going to and from British colonies
. The Navigation Acts (particularly their effect on trade in the colonies) were one of the direct economic causes of the American Revolution.
A series of
British regulations which taxed goods imported by the colonies from places other than Britain
, or otherwise sought to control and regulate colonial trade.
A companion enforcement law
was enacted in 1696. Under the provisions of this legislation, trade with the colonies was to be conducted only in English or colonial ships. Certain “enumerated” items (such as sugar, tobacco and indigo) were to be shipped only within the empire.
Enumeration was abandoned in 1822, and the navigation laws were finally repealed in
1849 and 1854
.
The worst provision of the Navigation acts is
legislation, trade
, with the colonies was to be managed only in English or colonial ships. Itemize products such as sugar, tobacco, and indigo were to be shipped only within the empire.
