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

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

It regulated the colonies’ trade with the Navigation Acts, but could it govern their internal affairs?

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

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

Nor was prosperity yet strangled by the strict enforcement of the Navigation Acts.

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