Tonnage and Poundage

(noun)

Certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II's reign on every tun (cask) of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or imported. Traditionally it was granted by Parliament to the king for life until the reign of Charles I.

Related Terms

Examples of Tonnage and Poundage in the following topics:

  • Cromwell and the Roundheads

    • Despite tensions between the King and Parliament, James' peaceful disposition contributed to relative peace in both England and Scotland.
    • However, his son and successor, Charles I of England, did not share his father's personality and engaged in even more tense conflicts with Parliament.
    • The Petition did not grant him the right of tonnage and poundage, which Charles had been collecting without Parliamentary authorization since 1625.
    • His forces defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country, bringing to an end the Irish Confederate Wars.
    • He died from natural causes in 1658 and the Royalists returned to power in 1660, and they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded.

  • Charles I and the Power to Tax

    • Charles I's attempt to impose taxes not authorized by Parliament contributed to the ongoing conflict between the King and Parliament and eventually resulted in passing the 1628 Petition of Right.
    • In addition, rather than renewing the customs due from Tonnage and Poundage for the entire life of the monarch, which was traditional, the Commons only voted them in for one year.
    • The conflict between the King and Parliament escalated.
    • On June 7, Charles capitulated and accepted the Petition.  
    • The Petition of Right also marked a substantial cooperative work between individual parliamentarians and between the Commons and Lords, something that had previously been lacking and that in the end led to the formation of political parties.

  • The Battle of the Atlantic

    • The convoys, coming mainly from North America and predominantly going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, were protected for the most part by the British and Canadian navies and air forces.
    • In essence, the Battle of the Atlantic was a tonnage war: the Allies struggled to supply Britain, while the Axis attempted to stem the flow of merchant shipping which enabled Britain to keep fighting.
    • Historians still estimate precise losses and numbers very greatly but it is clear that victory was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, approximately 3,000 Allied merchant ships and 175 Allied warships were sunk.
    • Over 36,000 Allied sailors, airmen and servicemen and and a similar number of merchant seamen lost their lives.
    • Discuss the tonnage war in the Atlantic between Allied merchant ships and the German Navy and Airforce.

  • The Strategic Bombing of Europe

    • During World War II, the Allies used strategic bombing in Europe and Asia in order to impede the Axis infrastructure and war production capacities as well as terrorize civilians on enemy territories.
    • Few in Britain opposed this policy, but there were three notable opponents in Parliament, Bishop George Bell and the Labor MPs Richard Stokes and Alfred Salter.
    • The USAAF commanders in Washington, D.C. and in Great Britain adopted the strategy of taking on the Luftwaffe head on, in larger and larger air raids by mutually defending bombers flying over Germany, Austria, and France at high altitudes during the daytime.
    • Both the U.S. government and its Army Air Forces commanders were reluctant to bomb enemy cities and towns indiscriminately.
    • The sheer tonnage of explosive delivered by day and by night was eventually sufficient to cause widespread damage, and, more importantly from a military point of view, forced Germany to divert resources to counter it.

  • Conflict in the Atlantic

    • The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the Kriegsmarine (German navy) and aircraft of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) against the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, the United States Navy, and Allied merchant shipping.
    • The convoys, coming mainly from North America and predominantly going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, were protected for the most part by the British and Canadian navies and air forces.
    • In essence, the Battle of the Atlantic was a tonnage war: the Allied struggle to supply Britain and the Axis attempt to stem the flow of merchant shipping that enabled Britain to keep fighting.
    • Others, including Blair and Alan Levin, disagree.
    • Victory was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied merchant ships (totalling 14.5 million gross tons) and 175 Allied warships were sunk and some 72,200 Allied naval and merchant seamen lost their lives.

  • Article I

    • To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
    • To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
    • To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
    • To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
    • No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.