Wool Act 1699

The Wool Act of 1699 (or the Woolens Act) is a former Act of the Parliament of England (11 Will. III c. 13) which attempted to heighten taxation and increase control over colonial trade and production. It opened Britain's wool industry by limiting wool production in Ireland and forbidding the export of wool from the American colonies. The Act prohibited American colonists from exporting wool, wool yarn, or wool cloth to markets outside the individual colony in which it was produced, and also restricted the import of woolens and linens created in other areas of the British Empire. In effect, it forced all wool and wool products produced by colonies and dependent areas of the United Kingdom to be sold to British markets, and then resold to British citizens in all areas of the empire. Each sale generated taxes on these goods. Shopkeepers had a very hard time during period when the Wool Act was in force. Some colonists opposed this act by buying more flax and hemp. It was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1867.