Navigation Acts

The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce with other countries and with its own colonies. The laws also regulated England's fisheries and restricted foreign—including Scottish and Irish—participation in its colonial trade. The first such laws enacted in 1650 and 1651 under the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell.

With the Restoration in 1660, royal government passed the Navigation Act 1660, and then further developed and tightened by the Navigation Acts of 1663, 1673, and 1696. Upon this basis during the 18th century, the acts were modified by subsequent amendments, changes, and the addition of enforcement mechanisms and staff. A major change in the purpose of the acts began in the 1760s, with the aim of generating revenue, i.e., taxes, from the colonies, rather than solely regulating trade. Colonists in North America saw the change in royal policy as trampling their rights as Englishmen and resisted what they considered taxation without representation, and significant changes in the implementation of the acts themselves.

The acts generally prohibited the use of foreign ships, required the employment of English and colonial mariners for 75% of the crews, including East India Company ships. The acts prohibited colonies from exporting certain products to countries other than Britain and those countries' colonies, and mandated that imports be sourced only through Britain.

Overall, the acts formed the basis for English (and later) British overseas trade for nearly 200 years, but with the development and gradual acceptance of free trade, the acts were eventually repealed in 1849.