Who was in the townshend acts?

Answer 1

The acts were written and passed by Parliament, and named for Charles Townshend (1725-1767), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program.

Townshend, a witty speaker who died suddenly shortly after the Acts were passed, was known by some as "Champagne Charlie" for a speech made in the House of Commons earlier in 1767.

Answer 2

The Townshend Acts applied duties (taxes) to paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea imported by the colonies. Townshend had studied the colonist's distinction between internal and external taxes and he believed his duties were external as none of the products, except tea, could be made in the colonies. The colonists did not agree with his thinking and the result was a colonial boycott against British products. Trade between England and America fell off by 50 percent as a result of the boycott. The British merchants complained to Parliament who repealed the Townshend Duties except the tax on tea. The tea tax was kept in honor of the Declaratory Act. Parliament passed that act to declare that they did have the right to tax the colonies regardless of the American claim of internal or external taxation.