Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed in the beginning of 1767. The acts were named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Revenue Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act, the Commissioners of customs Act, the Vice Admiralty Court Act, and the New York Restraining Act are thought to be the acts included in the Townshend Acts. The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges so that they would remain loyal to Great Britain, to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish the province of New York for failing to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. As a result of the multiple protests, Parliament repeaked most of the new taxes, but the tax of tea was retained.