Navigation Acts (Acts of Trade and Navigation)

Overview

The Navigation Acts – also known as the Acts of Trade and Navigation — were a series of laws enacted by the British Parliament between 1651 and 1774 to regulate trade in Colonial America.

Rooted in the principles of Mercantilism, the Navigation Acts aimed to strengthen the British economy by utilizing the colonies as a source of raw materials and a market for finished goods. Initially, the Navigation Acts focused on challenging Dutch competition in overseas trade, requiring that most American goods be transported in English or colonial ships with a significant British crew presence.

Over time, additional Navigation Acts were passed to tighten imperial control and protect British merchants and manufacturers from colonial competition. The Revenues Act of 1663 imposed a “plantation duty” on certain colonial goods not delivered to England, while customs officials were assigned to colonial port cities. Despite these measures, enforcement proved challenging due to limited personnel and the distance between Great Britain and the colonies.

In an attempt to further protect British interests, subsequent acts, often referred to as the Trade Acts, targeted specific industries and restricted manufacturing in America. The 1699 Woolen Act and the 1732 Hat Act prohibited the export and intercolonial sales of certain textiles and colonial-made hats.

The 1733 Molasses Act, a Navigation Act, was designed to protect West Indian planters and merchants and imposed a high tax on molasses imported to the colonies from non-British ports.

While the Navigation Acts achieved their mercantilist goals, such as a favorable balance of trade and reduced dependence on foreign markets, they had notable consequences for the American colonies. Surprisingly, the acts stimulated the colonial economy by providing guaranteed markets and incentives for producing specific commodities. Some acts even helped increase shipbuilding in New England.

However, not all acts were strictly followed, with colonial merchants freely trading restricted goods such as rum, molasses, and sugar. The limitations and restrictions imposed by the Navigation Acts began to be felt by some colonists in the mid-18th century when Great Britain ended the policy of Salutary Neglect.

Over time, the Navigation Acts played an important role in shaping colonial trade and British economic dominance. While initially beneficial to both the British Empire and the American Colonies, the long-term effects would ultimately contribute to tensions and discontent in the colonies, leading to the American Revolution.

Essential Facts

• Also Known As: The Acts of Trade and Navigation.
• Key People: Oliver Cromwell, Robert Walpole, George Grenville.
• Part Of: Colonial America, British Colonial Government, Taxation Without Representation.

Details

• The Navigation Acts controlled shipping and trade in the British Empire.
• The Trade Acts restricted manufacturing in the American Colonies.
• The laws were based on England’s Mercantile System.
• The First Navigation Act was passed in 1651.

Advantages

• Britain created a favorable trade balance and reduced the empire’s reliance on foreign markets.
• The British treasury benefited from the duties (taxes) paid by merchants.
• American merchants enjoyed a monopoly over the trade of certain goods and products within the empire, including tobacco.
• Some laws encouraged the development of industries in the American Colonies, such as shipbuilding and the production of naval stores.

Disadvantages

• The Navigation Acts placed economic restrictions on the American Colonies by reducing the number of markets that American merchants could do business with.
• The Trade Acts slowed the development of industrialization.
• Inconsistent enforcement of the laws created tension between Britain and the American Colonies.
• During periods of lax enforcement, known as “Salutary Neglect,” American merchants were often guilty of smuggling (conducting illegal trade).
• The acts required ships to follow the Triangular Trade routes that contributed to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Effects

• Salutary Neglect allowed American merchants to conduct trade on their own terms, which created a sense of independence.
• British politicians failed to fully understand the impact of Salutary Neglect.
• Parliament continued to add laws and expand enforcement, which led to Taxation Without Representation.
• This triggered the American Revolution, as Americans protested with public and written protests.

Significance

The Navigation Acts are important to American History because of the role they played in enforcing the Mercantile System on the American Colonies from 1651 to 1773. Although the colonies benefited from some of the laws, the Navigation Acts as a whole restricted the freedoms and liberties of Americans and became a direct cause of the American Revolution.

History

England’s Mercantile System

The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by Parliament between 1651 and 1733 to regulate trade throughout the British Empire, including Colonial America.

• The Navigation Acts enforced the principles of the Mercantile System.
• The Mercantile System was an economic model based on the theory of Mercantilism.

Under Mercantilism, colonies existed to benefit the Mother Country’s economy in two ways:

1. To provide natural resources (e.g., lumber) to the Mother Country’s industrial sector, which used them to manufacture finished products (e.g., furniture).
2. To serve as a market for merchants to sell the finished products to.

The Navigation Acts were put in place to enforce the principles that ensured the Mother Country controlled the flow of resources, trade, and money throughout the entire economic system. The goal was for England to export more goods than it imported, which would reduce reliance on resources from rival European nations.

While the Navigation Acts were not always strictly enforced by the British government, they did provide some control over American trade by safeguarding the interests of British merchants and manufacturers. 

However, lax enforcement unintentionally stimulated the economic growth of the American Colonies, particularly before the mid-18th Century. This, in turn, created a sense of economic, political, and social independence that spread, especially in large cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston.

Dutch Shipping Dominance

England introduced its first shipping laws in the 1300s. However, trade between England and the American Colonies was largely unregulated until 1642. This changed after the English Civil War (1642–1649), when Parliament gained more influence in governing England, as the Commonwealth of England replaced the monarchy, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

By 1650, the Dutch had established a significant presence in the waters near England and the English colonies, raising concerns among English merchants and politicians. 

• The Dutch possessed the largest merchant fleet in Europe and dominated trade. Many goods imported into England arrived on Dutch ships. 
• In the North Sea, Dutch fishing fleets were surpassing and squeezing out English ones.
• Another concern for England was New Amsterdam, the Dutch settlement located at the mouth of the Hudson River.

Many members of Parliament were from England’s rising merchant class, and they pushed government policies that aligned with their commercial interests. Dutch dominance of maritime trade came to the forefront, and these merchants wanted to ensure that natural resources from the American Colonies were making their way to England, which was essential to the nation’s Mercantile System, and their own individual interests.

Navigation Act of 1651

Parliament sought to protect English shipping interests by eliminating Dutch competition. This led to the First Navigation Act, which was passed in October 1651. 

It established guidelines, penalties, and exceptions that became the basis of English shipping laws from 1651 to 1775.

The main guidelines were:

• All imports from Asia, Africa, and America had to be transported via:
  • English-owned ships.
• All imports from Europe had to be transported via:
  • Ships from the country that produced the goods.
  • Ships from the country that originally received the goods.
  • English-owned ships.
• Colonial goods had to be shipped to England via:
  • Ships from the colony that produced the goods.
  • English-owned ships.

The penalty for anyone who was convicted of violating the act was the “forfeiture and loss of all the Goods” and the “Ship (with all her Tackle, Guns and Apparel) in which the said Goods or Commodities shall be so brought in and Imported.”

Exceptions were made for:

• Products from the Levant (Mediterranean), Spanish ports, Portuguese ports, and silk from Italy.
• Ships carrying “bullion,” which was gold and silver.
• English privateers carrying cargo taken from another ship.

Compliance was enforced by the English Royal Navy and local customs officials.

• Naval ships were given the authority to stop and inspect any passing vessels and demand a formal salute from foreign ships that were sailing in the Channel.
• When ships arrived in English ports, including those in English colonies, they were expected to have sailed in compliance with the guidelines.

Although this new law was not intended to regulate American commerce, it did have an impact:

• It hurt New England’s economy because its goods competed with English goods. New Englanders were unable to ship their goods to markets that the Dutch had access to. Because of this, northerners often avoided compliance.
• The Southern Colonies benefited because their raw materials, such as tobacco and naval stores, remained in high demand.

Overall, the act prohibited Dutch ships from being involved in carrying English imports and exports, which became a cause of the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654).

AHC Notes

• English customs officials were not working in every English port in the empire.
• This allowed ships and merchants to easily avoid compliance.
• Captains and merchants went about their business.
• English officials viewed much of this as “smuggling.”

Navigation Act of 1660

By 1660, the monarchy had been restored, with King Charles II on the throne. Charles II and Parliament passed the Second Navigation Act, which made adjustments to the 1651 Navigation Act.

• It required all colonial trade to be conducted using English-owned ships.
• The Captain of the ship and 75% of the crew had to be English.
• The act granted England greater control over colonial exports and levied duties (taxes) on certain goods.

Seven “Enumerated Goods” were identified that could only be shipped to England. Those items were: tobacco, sugar, rice, cotton wool, ginger, and dyes like indigo.

• Enumerated Goods could only be shipped to England or other British ports, to ensure that England could control distribution, whether they were sold within the empire or sent to European ports.

AHC Notes

• By requiring shipments of Enumerated Goods to be sent to England first, it added an extra stop for ships, which increased the time and cost of a voyage.
• Over time, additional items such as rice, molasses, furs, and naval stores were included in the list of Enumerated Goods.
• The act hurt the American Colonies that produced Enumerated Goods, as it limited the markets they could do business with.
• During the 1660s, the duties on tobacco from Maryland and Virginia accounted for 25% of English customs revenue.

Navigation Act of 1663 (Staple Act)

In 1663, Parliament passed the Third Navigation Act, which is known as the “Staple Act.” It required that all European exports destined for the American Colonies had to be shipped to England first, checked by customs officials, and then re-exported. For example:

• If an American merchant ordered wine from Madeira, the shipment had to be loaded onto a ship and exported to England. 
• Upon arrival, customs officials checked the cargo against the manifest and collected the duties. 
• Once the duties were paid, the ship was allowed to re-export the cargo and carry it to America.

This change was made to ensure that customs officials checked the cargo and collected the duties, and to limit smuggling. 

• The additional stop in England increased the cost of the voyage.
• European merchants responded by increasing the prices of goods originating from Europe.

This increased the time and cost of shipping, and that cost was passed on to the consumers in the colonies. As a result, colonists paid more for the products they bought.

Colonial Reaction

The colonists responded to these early Navigation Acts in various ways.

• Tobacco planters, who were heavily impacted by the customs duties, argued that the additional expenses significantly reduced their profits.
• Small planters, in particular, were adversely affected by the increased costs associated with the policies.
• Merchants and shippers from New England frequently ignored the Navigation Acts and continued trading with the Dutch or sought alternative methods, such as smuggling, to evade the new regulations.

Navigation Act of 1673 (Plantation Duty Act)

Another Navigation Act was passed in 1673 to help reduce the smuggling of tobacco and other Enumerated Goods by prohibiting colonial merchants from trading directly with foreign nations. The colonies were allowed to trade with each other but were required to pay duties on these shipments.

• Objections to the tax on tobacco became an issue in Albemarle County, North Carolina.
• Planters felt that having to pay the customs duties threatened the profits they made from trading tobacco with Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 
• It led to Culpepper’s Rebellion (1677–1678), a short-lived revolt against the English officials. The insurgents controlled the colony for about two years before the government was restored to control of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

AHC Notes

• The Plantation Duty Act imposed a one-penny-per-pound tax on tobacco shipped between colonies.
• This reduced the profit plantation owners and farmers made from their main cash crop.

Additional Oversight and Enforcement

Between 1675 and 1690, Parliament took additional steps to improve oversight of trade within the empire.

1. 1675 — The Lords of Trade were established.
2. 1686 — The Dominion of New England was created.
3. 1689 — The English Bill of Rights was implemented.

In 1675, King Charles II established the Lords of Trade and Plantation (Lords of Trade), which consisted of 21 members of the Privy Council. Nine of them were responsible for addressing the needs of the colonies. The Lords of Trade was a permanent committee that provided guidance to the Privy Council but had no legislative power.

Charles II died in 1685 and was replaced by his brother James, the Duke of York, who became King James II. James created controversy by easing restrictions on Catholics and maintaining a standing army after the Monmouth Rebellion (1685).

In 1686, James II, the Privy Council, and the Lords of Trade decided to merge the New England Colonies together under a single government. Under the new arrangement, the colonies were known as the “Dominion of New England.” The Dominion was meant to:

• Streamline English oversight of the colonies.
• Enforce the Navigation Acts.
• Give England more control over land titles and the coordination of colonial defenses.

The Dominion initially included Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Hampshire, and part of Rhode Island.

• Joseph Dudley of Massachusetts served as the first Governor until Edmund Andros arrived in June 1686.
• By the end of 1686, the rest of Rhode Island and Connecticut were added to the Dominion.
• Andros clashed with New Englanders over various issues, including the enforcement of the Navigation Acts.

In 1688, James’ wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a male heir, James Francis Edward Stuart, who was baptized Catholic.

• As a male, he moved ahead of James’ daughter, Mary, in order of ascension to the throne. Mary was a Protestant and was married to William of Orange, the ruler of most of the Netherlands.
• Opponents of James, who wanted to ensure England remained Protestant, reached out to William, invited him to invade England, and dethrone James.
• William invaded in November 1688, and James fled the country.

In January 1689, Parliament declared that James had abdicated, and the throne was formally offered to William and Mary, provided they agreed to a Declaration of Rights. This “English Bill of Rights” firmly entrenched Parliament’s supremacy over the Crown, and:

• Eliminated the Crown’s ability to suspend laws.
• Declared a standing army during peacetime illegal.
• Established Parliament’s authority to levy taxes.

This sequence of events, known as the “Glorious Revolution,” led to up in the colonies of Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland. 

• Colonies that had been part of the Dominion of New England reverted to the governments that were outlined in their charters.
• William became King William III, and Mary became Queen Mary II.

Board of Trade and Plantations

In May 1696, King William III established the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations as a permanent legislative body to oversee the colonies. It is also known as the Board of Trade and Plantations, or simply as the Board of Trade. 

• The Board was responsible for the development and oversight of policies that dealt with the American Colonies. 
• The goal was to keep them under English control and to make them profitable.
• As Parliament passed more legislation that dealt with the colonies, the Board of Trade’s responsibilities expanded.

Navigation Act of 1696 (Plantation Trade Act)

Despite growing oversight and governance, the enforcement of the Navigation Acts was limited due to the insufficient number of customs officials available to effectively monitor all American trade activity and the number of loopholes that existed in the system. 

Parliament continued to tighten control by passing the Navigation Act of 1696, which is also known as the “Plantation Trade Act,” which made three changes to the system.

1. It required ships to register with customs.
2. It gave customs officials in the colonies the same authority as those in England, allowing them to use force to conduct searches and seize goods.
3. It voided any colonial laws that were intended to limit the enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
4. It expanded the Admiralty Court System.

Vice-Admiralty Courts were set up in the American Colonies to handle cases related to smuggling and other trade violations. These courts had broader jurisdiction compared to their English counterparts and were intended to help enforce the Navigation Acts.

AHC Notes

• In England, Admiralty Law and Admiralty Courts dealt with maritime issues.
• These courts were an extension of the High Court of Admiralty in England, which was established in the 14th Century.
• Before the Vice Admiralty Courts were established in the colonies, the cases were heard in civil courts, which led to a low conviction rate, because juries were not eager to convict Americans of these crimes.
• Vice Admiralty Courts were overseen by judges and did not use juries. The judges were responsible for rendering decisions. Over time, the Navigation Acts added financial incentives that encouraged judges to find the defendants guilty.

Wool Act of 1689

From 1699 to 1732, Parliament passed a series of laws that intentionally restricted manufacturing in the colonies. This started with the Wool Act of 1689. When American merchants started selling clothing to foreign nations, Parliament took action.

• All wool and wool products produced in America had to be shipped to England. 
• Duties were levied on the goods when they were shipped from America and when they arrived in England.

The Wool Act effectively restrained the manufacturing of wool products in the American Colonies.

AHC Notes

• The acts that dealt with manufacturing are sometimes referred to as the “Trade Acts,” the “Restrictive Acts,” or the “Restraining Acts.”

Salutary Neglect

In 1721, Robert Walpole was named First Lord of the Treasury and also became the first Prime Minister of Britain. Walpole sought to expand the British Empire through trade and understood that American merchants were generating profits that benefited Britain, even if they were doing so through illegal means. Because of the profits, Walpole decided to focus on European affairs, which allowed the American Colonies to ignore trade laws and largely manage themselves as they saw fit.

• Walpole’s informal policy is known as “Benign Neglect” or “Salutary Neglect.”
• The policy intended to ease the enforcement of strict trade laws in the American Colonies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
• Supporters of Salutary Neglect believed the approach would allow Britain to concentrate on European politics and wars.

Another member of the King’s cabinet, Thomas Pelham-Holles, the Duke of Newcastle, supported Walpole’s vision and helped shape Britain’s policy toward the American Colonies. However, Britain still failed to establish significant methods of collecting duties and enforcing the laws in the colonies.

During the time of Salutary Neglect, British government officials concentrated on affairs in Europe. As long as the American Colonies continued to produce raw materials for British industries and to buy finished products from British merchants, those officials were willing to look the other way, even if they had no choice but to do so.

Naval Stores Act of 1705

In 1705, Parliament passed a law that encouraged the production of naval stores (tar, pitch, and turpentine) in the Carolinas.

• Bonuses were offered for these products.
• The Carolinas were rich in pine forests, which were vital to the production of naval stores.

Hat Act of 1732

Parliament passed the Hat Act of 1732, which placed restrictions on American hat manufacturers.

• It reduced the number of hats they could produce.
• It forced fur traders to sell more of their beaver skins to Britain. 

British hat manufacturers benefited from the law, enabling them to produce higher-quality hats for sale in Europe and America.

Debt Recovery Act

The Debt Recovery Act gave creditors the authority to seize property from people who failed to pay on their loans.

• The Debt Recovery Act considered enslaved people as property, not just in Colonial America, but throughout the entire British Empire. 
• Prior to the Debt Recovery Act, enslaved people were not used as a means to pay off debt.

The Molasses Act of 1733

In an effort to protect the plantations in the British West Indies, Parliament passed the Navigation Act of 1773. The title of the act was “An act for the better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty’s sugar colonies in America” and is more commonly known as the Molasses Act. 

• It increased the duties merchants paid on shipments of molasses they imported from French and Spanish plantations in the West Indies.
• It was meant to encourage American merchants to buy molasses from the British plantations.

The new taxes upset American merchants, especially in New England, who were afraid that it was going to do significant damage to the rum industry. They dealt with the Molasses Act by bribing customs officials and increasing smuggling.

Iron Act of 1750

The Iron Act prohibited the production and manufacture of finished iron goods in the colonies. However, it allowed iron ore to be mined, smelted, and exported to Britain.

Rule of 1756

During the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the Seven Years’ War, Britain devised a policy that allowed it to seize ships from neutral nations trading with its enemies during wartime. 

• Under the Rule of 1756, ships violating the Navigation Acts could be seized and sold as prizes.
• The policy started to bring an end to Salutary Neglect in the American Colonies.
• Later, it contributed to the tensions that caused the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.

Writs of Assistance and the Paxton Case

Writs of Assistance were commonly used in the American Colonies and Great Britain to make enforcement of the Navigation Acts more efficient. They were court orders, issued under the authority of the British monarch, that allowed customs officers to conduct broad searches for smuggled goods.

• Writs of Assistance were introduced in Massachusetts in 1751 to enforce the Navigation Acts. 
• By 1755, they were permitted in other colonies to help deal with smuggling.

Following the death of King George II in October 1760, his grandson ascended the throne and became King George III. 

• In Massachusetts, Charles Paxton, a customs official, asked Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson to issue new writs.
• This was opposed by a group of Boston merchants, who filed a lawsuit over the issue.
• The merchants hired James Otis Jr. to handle their case, which was called Paxton v. Gray.

Although Otis lost the case, he delivered a passionate speech in which he said, “…one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle…”

• The arguments Otis laid out against the Writs of Assistance inspired the ideology of the American Revolution.
• John Adams, who was a young lawyer at the time, was an eyewitness to the speech. Many years later, Adams recalled the speech and wrote, “Otis was a flame of fire…American Independence was then and there born.”

Proclamation of 1763

In 1763, after the French and Indian War, the British government faced significant debts. It also decided to keep a standing army in the American Colonies to help maintain order on the frontier and enforce the Proclamation Line.

At the conclusion of the French and Indian War, the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763) left Great Britain in control of a vast territory in North America.

• This included lands in the Ohio Country, Illinois Country, and the Great Lakes Region, where the primary inhabitants were from the Native American Indian tribes.
• The Indians organized an uprising known as “Pontiac’s Rebellion” and attacked British forts in 1763.

To help ease tensions, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763.

• It established the Proclamation Line, which ran along the Appalachian Mountains.
  • Lands west of the line were reserved for the Indians as hunting grounds.
  • Americans were not allowed to settle west of the line.
• The Proclamation also established four new British colonies. They were East Florida, West Florida, Grenada, and finally, one in the north, the Province of Quebec.

End of Salutary Neglect

To address the need for revenue, British Prime Minister George Grenville ordered the British Royal Navy to begin enforcing the Navigation Acts and seize merchant ships that were suspected of carrying illegal shipments of goods.

• Strict enforcement increased revenue for the British government.
• It led to higher duties for the American merchants and higher prices for American consumers.

The American economy struggled after the war and suffered from a recession. Enforcement of the Navigation Acts made the situation worse.

• The colonial legislatures of New York and Massachusetts formally protested by sending letters to Parliament.

Currency Act of 1764

As the economy suffered, American merchants fell behind on paying their debts, British merchants started to demand that they pay their debts in hard money, gold and silver coins, also known as specie, rather than colonial paper currency. 

• Hard Money was a far more stable currency than paper money.
• British merchants could use it for other transactions.

To address the issue, Parliament passed the Currency Act, which prohibited the colonies from issuing their paper currency. 

• This made it even more challenging for colonists to settle their debts and pay taxes because hard money was scarce. 
• Thanks to the Mercantile System, most of it was held by British merchants.

Taxation Without Representation

Soon after the Currency Act was passed, Prime Minister Grenville took an important step toward raising revenue for the British Treasury. He presented revisions to the Molasses Act, which were designed to generate revenue from the American Colonies through taxation.

• Prior to this, Parliament had never levied taxes on the colonies. 
• Colonial legislatures handled colonial taxation.

The colonies did not have representatives in Parliament and essentially did not have a voice in the decision to pass the Sugar Act. This is known as “Taxation Without Representation,” and was quickly followed by a rallying cry in America — “No taxation without representation.”

From 1764 to 1775, tensions between Parliament and the colonies increased through a series of crises that ultimately led to the American Revolutionary War.

Sugar Act Crisis (1764) — The Sugar Act Crisis was caused by the passage of the Currency Act and Sugar Act in 1764, along with rumors of the pending Stamp Act. American political leaders, including Samuel Adams, Stephen Hopkins, and James Otis, responded with pamphlets outlining their opposition to the Sugar Act and Taxation Without Representation. At least one incident of violence took place when Rhode Islanders at Fort George fired on the British ship, St. John. 

Stamp Act Crisis (1765–1766) — This was caused by the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765. The Crisis included violence against British officials, including tax collectors, stamp agents, and governors. Riots took place in larger cities like Boston and New York. The groups that became known as the Sons of Liberty helped organize the civil unrest but quickly moved away from violence and turned their attention to political protest. This led to the organization of the Stamp Act Congress and Committees of Correspondence. Although Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, it passed the Declaratory Act (1765) and asserted its authority over the American Colonies.

Townshend Crisis (1766–1770) — Following the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament looked at new ways to raise revenue from the American Colonies and tighten control over them. Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which led to the Liberty Affair, the Massachusetts Circular Letter, and the Occupation of Boston.

Tea Crisis (1773) — In 1770, as a result of colonial protests, Parliament repealed the Townshend duties, except for the tax on tea. In 1773, the Tea Act was passed to help the East India Company and gave it a monopoly on the sale and distribution of tea in the colonies. Colonists resented the act because it maintained the British position that Britain could tax the colonies without granting them representation in Parliament. The crisis over the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party.

AP US History

The Navigation Acts are part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:

• The Road to Revolution (1763–1775)
• European Colonization (APUSH 2.2)
• Transatlantic Trade (APUSH 2.4)
• Taxation Without Representation (APUSH 3.3)

Definition

The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament between 1651 and 1733, aiming to regulate colonial trade and enforce mercantilist principles. These acts required that most American goods be transported on English or colonial ships, boosted British merchant marines, and restricted trade with other nations.

Video

This video from Heimler’s History discusses Taxation Without Representation for the AP US History exam, including the Navigation Acts.