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 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

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

More theoretically, Congress resolved that Parliament had no right to legislate for the colonies at all, but agreed to respect the Navigation Acts voluntarily.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

Despite the Navigation Acts, however, Great Britain exercised lax control over the English colonies during most of the eighteenth century because of the policies of Prime Minister Robert Walpole.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

But the private monopolies became so powerful that Cromwell, by the celebrated Navigation Acts of 1651, made a gigantic trade monopoly of the English nation.

From History of Human Society by Blackmar, Frank W. (Frank Wilson)