The act was intended to increase
England's
woolen product manufacturing by preventing
Irish wool production, manufactures, and export; it also forbade the export of wool and products from the
American colonies. Competing woolens from these areas had recently become more available in foreign and domestic markets. The act prohibited American colonists from exporting wool and wool products, or export to markets outside the individual colony in which it was produced, or to be transported from one place to another in the same colony. The act did not forbid the making of woolen fabrics for private consumption, but simply forbade the making of woolens for the public market. At this time the woolens exported from England had to pay heavy export duties. The act, one of the
Acts of Trade and Navigation, was mainly aimed at Irish woolens and established a policy to crush the Irish woolen industry. It had little effect on the American colonies; at most it only slowed the potential industry. Shopkeepers had a very hard time during this period when the Wool Act was in force. Some colonists opposed this act by buying more flax and hemp. == Subsequent developments ==