Final answer:
The Navigation Acts were used to manipulate colonial trade during the colonial period. The correct answer is a. Navigation Acts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is a. Navigation Acts. The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by the British government during the colonial period. These acts were designed to regulate colonial trade and ensure that most colonial goods were exported to Britain rather than other countries. The acts specified enumerated goods that colonists could only ship within the British Empire, limiting their ability to trade with other nations.
The Navigation Acts were used to manipulate colonial trade by regulating commerce to benefit the British Empire, mandating that only English or colonial ships could participate in the trade of certain 'enumerated goods' within the Empire.
The law used to manipulate colonial trade during the colonial period was the Navigation Acts. These acts were designed to regulate colonial trade and ensure that it benefited the British Empire.
Navigation Acts Overview
The Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted foreign shipping for trade between England (including Wales) and its colonies, which provided that only English or English colonial ships could carry cargo between imperial ports. Certain 'enumerated goods' such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton were restricted by these acts to trade solely within the British Empire, bolstering English economic interests.
The primary Navigation Act was passed in 1660, followed by others such as the 1663 Staple Act and the 1673 Plantation Duties Act. The Staple Act effectively barred colonial merchants from importing goods that had not been routed through England, thus creating a monopoly for English goods. The Plantation Duties Act imposed taxes on the enumerated articles when they were moved from one colony to another.
Whilst these acts were designed to control and to benefit British commerce, they led to significant dissatisfaction within the colonies, which played a part in the lead-up to the American Revolution.