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

To the colonial economists the navigation acts were merely trade regulations and the right of parliament to regulate commerce was fully recognized.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Bolton, Herbert Eugene

On this point, accordingly, the southern delegates acted as a unit in insisting that Congress should not be empowered to pass navigation acts, except by a two thirds vote of both houses.

From The Critical Period of American History by Fiske, John

During the Revolution foreign commerce had become an important interest, and at its close the inclination of all, the more so from memory of England's accursed navigation acts, would have been to leave it untrammelled.

From History of the United States, Volume 2 by Andrews, Elisha Benjamin

By means of navigation acts, she barred the Dutch from the carrying trade and confined colonial commerce in large part to the mother country.

From The Fathers of New England A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths by Andrews, Charles McLean

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