A British revenue measure, which was introduced after the failure to raise direct taxes in the American colonies by the Stamp Act. Faced with a parliamentary revolt against his budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, grandson of Charles Townshend, the agricultural reformer, sought revenue through taxes on American imports of paint, paper, glass, and tea. To enforce this trade tax, a new American Board of Customs Commissioners and Vice‐Admiralty Courts without juries were established. The revenue was to be used to pay salaries of colonial officials, thus making them independent of the colonial assemblies. American resistance led to the repeal of the duties, except for that on tea, in 1770.