Charles Townshend

Class: American History (CHA3U1)
Date: October 2005
The Assignment: Write an essay and make a commemorative stamp of an American person studied in class explaining why they are deserving of recognition.
Bibliography

Charles Townshend is deserving of recognition for his involvement with many aspects of British politics. Actions taken by Townshend effected many people and had great impacts on the history of America.

From 1747 until the year of his death (1767), he was greatly involved with politics. Townshend held many titles: lord of the admiralty, secretary at war, paymaster general, chancellor of the exchequer, and others. He was a member of the board of trade and the Privy Council. He was well known for his many clever speeches, including the “champagne speech”. Townshend was not afraid to speak his mind; he criticized the marriage bill and ministry policies. Before his death, he suggested the Townshend Acts; the acts would place taxes on paint, glass, paper, tea, and other items directly.

It can be argued that Charles Townshend is not deserving of recognition because of the problems the Townshend Acts caused. The taxes put in place by the acts were cancelled by 1770 on all goods except for tea. The Townshend Acts were a major part of the cause of the Boston Tea Party because of this. The Boston Tea Party was one of the causes of the American Revolutionary War. If the Townshend Acts never existed or the tax was abolished, the war may still have taken place, but the Tea Party may not have happened.

Therefore, because of the many roles Townshend took on, his involvement with several different groups, his wit and intelligence, and the Townshend Acts, Charles Townshend is very deserving of recognition.

Bibliography

Bragdon, McCutchen, & Ritchie. (1998). History of a free nation. Ohio: Glencoe / McGraw-Hill.

Mintz, S. (2003) The Townshend Acts. Retrieved October 2, 2005 on the World Wide Web: <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=281>

Wikipedia. (2005, August 2) Charles Townshend. Retrieved September 28, 2005 on the World Wide Web: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Townshend>