• kandoh@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    I had heard that they were actually lowering taxes and tariffs on imported goods and since the founding fathers were all involved in smuggling goods in — the lower taxes threatened their personal income so they rebelled

    • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      It’s complicated. They removed all taxation that would have benefitted the the colonies, but kept the Townshend Act taxes in place.

      The colonies had been evading the Townshend taxes, largely because they were understood to be punitive. That’s the primary reason tea had been smuggled from The Netherlands, as resistance to what was viewed as unjust taxation.