The Navigation Acts
Copyright © 2005-6, Henry J. Sage

Great Britain managed its colonial empire according to the principles of mercantilism. Her policies were implemented through a series of navigation acts, all of which sought to maximize the profits made by the Empire and its entities through trade. Although the colonists did not object to these navigation acts in theory, recognizing that trade had to be regulated, they still found them an irritant because in practice they tended to work for the interest of the mother country at the expense of the colonies.

For example, the navigations acts demanded that most raw materials be imported into England from the colonies in order to support British manufacturing. Conversely, the colonies were often prohibited from exporting manufactured goods to the mother country because they would compete with British manufactures. For a time, Virginia tobacco could be sold only in England, even though the Dutch might pay more for it. On the other hand, the growing of tobacco in England was prohibited.

The first major navigation acts of 1650 and 1651 forbade the importation into England of all goods except in English ships or ships owned by the producing country, eliminating third party carriers. Foreign ships were barred from trading in the colonies. It should be noted in all these acts that the colonies were part of the Empire and thus colonial ships were British ships. Also, the acts were not aimed against the colonies, but rather against the Dutch traders, who challenged British domination of the seas. Eventually these acts led to war between the British and Dutch.

The second major navigation act was passed in 1660, and it forbade the importing into or the exporting from the British colonies of any goods except in English or colonial ships (with ¾ of the crew British) and it forbade certain colonial articles such as sugar, tobacco, wool and cotton from being shipped to any country except to England or some English plantation in order to keep them from competitors.

Additional acts passed in the 1660s and 1670s sought further control of the kinds of goods that could be shipped to and from the colonies and the methods by which they could be shipped. Some of the acts were also designed to tighten enforcement, as patrolling the lengthy coastline of America with its many bays and rivers was extremely difficult and costly. The net result was that the navigation acts, while rigorous on paper, were very loosely enforced and the colonists with became habitual offenders and smugglers.

In 1675 King Charles the second designated certain Privy Councilors as “Lords of Trade and Plantations” in order to make colonial trade more profitable. From then until 1696 the Lords of Trade handled most colonial matters.

The 1696 navigation act confined all colonial trade to English built ships and tried once again to toughen enforcement procedures in order to collect duties. In addition it voided this all colonial laws passed in opposition to the navigation acts, and the act created the Board Of Commissioners for Trade And Plantations. The Board's 15 members provided centralized control of colonial affairs.

Additional navigation and trade acts were added in the 1700s and raised further restrictions, and although they were not so intended, the acts nevertheless alienated the colonists, who often suffered from them—often only in theory (if not in practice) because of lax enforcement.

Back to British Empire