Which of the following was NOT a feature of the Navigation Acts?

• A. Required English ships and crews
• B. Enumerated articles not to be shipped elsewhere
• C. All colonial trade to pass through England
• D. They allowed colonial trade to bypass England

Answer: (D)

The Navigation Acts embody mercantilist aims to channel colonial trade through England so the mother country could benefit from taxes, shipbuilding, and control of commerce. They required that trade from the colonies be carried on English ships with English crews, strengthening domestic maritime capacity. They also defined enumerated articles—such as tobacco and sugar—that could only be exported to England or its colonies, not to other nations. And they stated that all colonial trade had to pass through England, allowing duties and regulations to be enforced.

So, the statement that colonial trade could bypass England does not fit with what the Acts established. The Acts were designed precisely to prevent bypassing England and to keep colonial profits circulating back to the English economy.