Final answer:
The Navigation Acts were a series of English laws designed to regulate colonial trade and ensure that England benefited from its colonies' wealth. Key acts like the Navigation Act of 1651, 1660, Staple Act of 1663, and Plantation Duty Act of 1673 established a mercantilist system, further strengthened by the Navigation Act of 1696 and the Trade Act of 1696, ensuring the supremacy of English shipping and maximizing customs revenues.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Navigation Acts were a series of laws that reflected the policy of mercantilism, aimed at securing England's wealth through tighter control of colonial trade. Initially established with the Navigation Act of 1651, these acts intended to ensure that only English ships could transport goods to and from its colonies, and that certain "enumerated articles" like sugar and tobacco, could only be sent to England or English colonies. The acts were reinforced by subsequent legislation, including the Navigation Act of 1660, the Staple Act of 1663 that required foreign goods to first land in England, and the Plantation Duty Act of 1673 to curb smuggling and enforce collection of duties in the colonies.
Further developing this regime, the Navigation Act of 1696 sought to correct earlier legislation's weaknesses by allowing royal officials in the colonies to search and seize illegal goods more effectively. Alongside, the Trade Act of 1696 established the Board of Trade, which superseded the earlier Lords of Trade, to better supervise and develop colonial commerce, as the burgeoning British Empire sought to maximize economic benefits from its overseas possessions.