Charles Townshend (writer of the Townshend acts), who took over his position after the much liked William Pitt became sick, was not concerned with the rights of the American colonies and wanted only to strengthen the power of the parliament and the royal officials in colonial America at that time. With his influence in court and his promises to tax the colonists, he was able to have his initial three acts, the first of which reinforced the quartering act of 1765, the tea act, and the revenue act passed. Later, he would pass his fourth act, which eliminated the revenue act but intensified the tea act.
The reason that the Townshend acts were a cause for the Revolutionary W ar was not only because of the money which it made the colonists pay but because it caused tension between the British and Americans. The Townshend acts also represented the British need for control over the colonies and make them truly mercantile colonies once again. The colonies felt differently; a new, American generation was blossoming in the new world, and a patriotic feeling with it. This patriotic tension, a resultant of the Townshend and other acts, were a reason for the Revolutionary war.
The tea act was passed to keep the East India Company out of business by allowing it to sell tea at a lower price and directly to America and without British taxes. This act was successful for a short period of time, collecting 778 pounds a year on average from 1763 to 1774, but was greatly decreased from the 1,395 pounds collected a year on average until then (?The Townshend Act?, page 1). The money lost on the tea act was recovered however in the third act, the Townshend Revenue Act.
The Townshend Revenue act, which as mentioned previously, raised taxes on lead, glass, tea, paint, and paper, was passed on June 29th, 1767 (lexrex.com, page 1). It stated that the colonies or 'dominions in his majesty's reign', were to have extra taxes on all goods mentioned. The new tax inductive prices were as follows:
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of red lead, two shillings.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of green glass, one shilling and two pence.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of white lead, two shillings.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of painters colours, two shillings.
For every pound weight avoirdupois of tea, three pence.
For every ream of paper, usually called or known by the name of Atlas fine, twelve shillings. (Original text, Charles Townshend)
Also, it said that the taxes were to be organized by the colonists in a mannerly way, separate from all other taxes and to be made out to Townshend himself. In return, the document states, the colonies would receive 'defending, protecting, and securing of the British colonies and plantations in America.' What was more, the act could be applied and removed as the king and high treasurer (who ironically happened to be the writer of this document) wished.
In order to collect these new taxes, Townshend designed an elaborate 'Board of Customs commissioners' as part of the Revenue act. It consisted of officers, searchers, and spies, and was given a supreme power of changing American customs as it pleased. This new system was based in Boston and went to great lengths to collect taxes with its fleet of ships. The officials were even allowed to warrant a search if given permission by the supreme court. Although it seemed this new system was fool proof and would be successful, almost all of the money went directly to the salaries of those involved in the board, leaving England very little money for itself.
The Americans, who wanted nothing to do with the British, disliked the increased taxes. They could not buy cheap commodities from nations other than Britain, and were being restricted in their powers of self government. The themes of these taxes struck at the heart of American political liberty, only giving the British less of a hold on their quickly maturing colonies and creating greater aggression in the colonists towards the British.
The Townshend Acts were causing Economic turmoil in both Europe and the Americas. The new low price of tea was putting merchants out of business, and keeping other countries from making money selling goods to the colonists. Britain was losing money in some areas due to boycotts by the Americans, and the Americans were losing money because they could not afford to produce items made from such expensive materials. Fortunately, the Townshend acts would not last the new decade.
After the acts were put into place, Americans began to see what the British would do to their liberty if given enough time. For example, the board of custom commissioners created by the Townshend Revenue act began to extort money from merchants illegally. John Hancock and his sloop Liberty were seized on June 21, 1768 while importing goods to Boston. The Americans were outraged and threatened that the board members' lives were at stake if they did not let him go, but they refused. In order to ensure that the Americans would not hurt the commissioners, the British sent 4,000 soldiers across the Atlantic to protect them. They arrived, but were only criticized and jeered by the Americans. Then, in March of 1770 a riot occurred between the soldiers and Bostonians in what is known as the Boston Massacre. During the 'massacre,' five Americans were killed. Instead of returning the colonists' liberty, however, British parliament once again only increased the amount of colonial resentment.
Later, in 1774, the parliament decided to repeal all of the Townshend acts except for the tea act, reserving their right to tax the colonies. This angered the colonists, however because they wanted the tea act repealed also. The colonists viewed the tea act as another violation of their rights, and refused to buy the tea, but the British tried to force them to. On December 13, a few of the colonists led by Samuel Adams disguised themselves as Indians and boarded the ship carrying the leaves and dumped 343 chests of tea into the harbor (1773-1774-The Tea act, page 1).
The Townshend acts alone did not cause resistance. It was not the extra taxes or soldiers which came to new world that caused our Revolutionary War against Britain, but the events which followed them. On a grand scale, the Townshend acts could be seen as the "last straw" in England's attempt to make the colonies a new England. Because of the Townshend acts, American colonists formed the liberalist ideals and patriotic sense which led them to fight the revolutionary war and form our great country.