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

The two main grievances are the English navigation acts and the grant of authority to the English noblemen to sell land titles and manage other matters in Virginia.

From The Real America in Romance, Volume 6; a Century Too Soon (A Story by Musick, John R. (John Roy)

I consider these as a reprisal for the navigation acts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

So Timothy Biggs, of the Little River Settlement, was appointed surveyor of customs, and Valentine Byrd, of Pasquotank, collector of customs, with orders to enforce the navigation acts and other trade laws, so long disregarded.

From In Ancient Albemarle by Pugh, Mabel

But the Southern members objected that by means of this power Congress might pass navigation acts limiting trade to American ships, which might raise freights on exports from the South.

From A Brief History of the United States by McMaster, John Bach

The planting states wanted a provision forbidding Congress to pass navigation acts, except by a two-thirds vote, and forbidding any tax on exports; three states also wished to import slaves for use on their plantations.

From A School History of the United States by McMaster, John Bach