Navigation Acts

British  

plural noun

1. a series of acts of Parliament, the first of which was passed in 1381, that attempted to restrict to English ships the right to carry goods to and from England and its colonies. The attempt to enforce the acts helped cause the War of American Independence

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Example Sentences

American merchants had long wanted to defy the Navigation Acts and trade directly with France, moreover, so a wartime partnership could interest both sides.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

The Navigation Acts were particularly important to colonists who participated directly in international trade, especially the merchants who bought and sold the colonies’ principal products, and the planters and farmers who supplied them.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

Prior to the 1764 act, colonial violations of the Navigation Acts had been tried in local courts, where sympathetic colonial juries refused to convict merchants on trial.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Starting in 1651, England pursued mercantilist policies through a series of Navigation Acts designed to make the most of England’s overseas possessions.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Can there be any doubt that the Navigation Acts and the futility of all attempts to escape their baleful effects, were largely instrumental in bringing on Bacon's Rebellion?

From Virginia under the Stuarts 1607-1688 by Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson