Navigation Acts

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Navigation Acts

• By Dana Sneberger, period 4 APUSH

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Outline

• The Navigation Act of 1660 required all goods
  being shipped into or out of Britain (including
  Ireland and America) had to be on British ships.
• It was also required that 75 of the ships crew
  and masters were British.
• Colonial governors had to take oaths that they
  would enforce the Navigation Act within their
  provinces.
• Shippers carrying goods were required to post
  bonds when they departed to guarantee that they
  would carry the goods to another British port.
• Goods that were specifically mentioned, such as
  cotton, sugar, ginger and indigo, were only
  allowed to be shipped to British territories.

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Massachusetts

• Massachusetts, having none of the specified
  products in abundance, wasnt affected much.
• However, when the laws didnt meet with
  Massachusetts needs, the shippers would find
  ways to get around them.
• The shippers would take on goods, including sugar
  and tobacco, and go to another colonial port
  where they would refund their bond. They would
  then sell their goods to people who would buy
  them for an even greater price.
• The shippers would sell their goods for less than
  the British imports.

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Effects

• The Navigation Act at first devastated Virginia
  (the Chesapeake). Planters couldnt sell their
  tobacco to the shipper that offered the better
  price.
• The tobacco prices fell greatly, since Britain
  couldnt handle the surplus of tobacco. The
  supply was greater than the demand.
• In 1666, the price of tobacco fell to .5 pence a
  pound and didnt raise much until the 1700s.

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The End