Our Parliament’s act is called the Townshend Acts named after Charles Townshend who was Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (or treasury department) and passed the British Parliament in an effort to exercise greater royal authority over the American colonies and to levy new taxes. The acts, sometimes were called the American Import Duties Acts and was passed in 1767. The Parliament’s reason for passing the act is Parliament still intended to raise money from the colonies to pay off Britain’s debt. The Townshend Acts were viewed as undue interference in colonial affairs and caused deep resentment and widespread resistance. The items that were taxed were tea, glass, lead, paint, and paper. It does not say what would happen if they didn’t follow
