Charles Townshend

Charles Townshend was the British Chancellor of the Exchequer who attempted to reassert Britain's rights to tax the 13 colonies by introducing a series of indirect taxes. The British had borrowed heavily to fund the Seven Years War and now had to repay those loans and so sought to raise revenue from the colonies who benefitted the most from the victories of that war. However, it had the effect of mobilising settler opinion against the British government.