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 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

England enforced the Navigation Acts by a combination of prohibitions and taxes designed to make certain forms of commerce too expensive to pursue.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

West Indies merchants and planters depended on the Navigation Acts for protected markets in Britain, and while they grumbled at parliamentary interference, they would not endanger their privileged position.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

The duties imposed by the Navigation Acts were quite valuable to the Crown, and produced as much as £140,000 per year as early as 1670.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

The Navigation Acts, as they stood at the period of his accession, had been framed in the illiberal and selfish spirit which characterized the legislation of the age.

From Inquiry Into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States by Van Buren, Martin