Pamphlet, Townshend's Revenue Act, 1767

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In 1767 Parliament passed new duties on goods imported into the colonies that were known as the Townshend Acts. The new legislation also made law enforcement more independent of colonists’ own ideas of what was just and fair. It appointed officials to enforce the law, provided them with broad authority to search private stores, and established courts without colonial juries to try disputed cases. Parliament rejected colonial claims that law enforcement, like lawmaking, needed to be accountable to colonial opinion.