The Intolerable Acts. Everything you need to know.
King George III and the new British Prime Minister, Lord North, were furious when they
heard the news of the Boston Tea Party. In the spring of 1774, Parliament responded by
passing four harsh laws that colonists found so rude, crude, and vile they called them
The Intolerable Acts. What did these laws do?
The Coercive Acts, as they were called in Britain, were designed to punish Boston for
the Tea Party and passed Parliament by a huge 4-1 majority. The Boston Port Act closed Boston
Harbor, one of the empire's busiest, until the destroyed tea, and the duties on it, were
paid for in pounds sterling.
Massachusetts's charter, granted by the Crown in 1691, was drastically overhauled.
Officials in the governor's council would be appointed by the royal governor, and town
meetings could no longer take place without the governor's permission. All local judges
and officials would be appointed by the governor, and their salaries would be paid for by customs
duties (taxes). All Committees of Correspondence in the colony were also to be disbanded.
The Administration of Justice Act followed, which stipulated that any British soldier
or official charged with a capital crime in America would have their trial moved to England
or to another colony where they would face a friendlier judge and jury.
The Coercive Acts also dispatched four regiments of British soldiers to Boston and authorized
army officers to quarter the troops in the homes of private citizens. To truly emphasize
the message to the colonists, King George III appointed Royal Army officer Thomas Gage,
commander-in-chief of British troops in North America, as the new governor of the colony.
As a final act of punishment to the colonies, Lord North passed the Quebec Act, which set
up a government for the colony that had been won from France a little more than a decade
before. It made concessions to the Roman Catholic French living in the territory as it imitated
the manner in which they were governed under the French colonial regime.
The second part of the Quebec Act proved to be quite 'anti-American.' The southern
boundary of Quebec was extended south to the Ohio River and the western half to the Mississippi,
effectively stripping away the land claims of a half dozen colonies to the territory.
British officials readily admitted in Parliament that the intention was to keep the English
colonists bottled up close to the seaboard where they would be easier to control.
Not all of the members of Parliament supported the Coercive Acts. In fact, several warned
that it would lead to massive resistance throughout the colonies. One even warned his fellow politicians
that they might soon be "wading up to your eyes in blood." William Pitt spoke out against
the acts in the House of Lords because they "punish the innocent as well as the guilty."
Lord North dismissed the negative arguments, assuring that the empire had nothing to worry
about. Of the America colonies he commented, "She has neither army, navy, money, or men."
He then summed up the debates on the acts by stating, "We must control them or submit
to them."
After meeting with the former Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, King George
III informed Prime Minister North that the colonies would soon submit to their rule.
It was around that same time that reports reached London that colonial leaders had planned
something called the Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia.