The Coercive Acts

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Section Chronology

Lord North's response was swift and stern: In 1774, he persuaded Parliament to issue the Coercive Acts, four laws meant to punish Massachusetts. In America, those laws, along with a fifth one, the Quebec Act, were soon known as the Intolerable Acts (Table 6.1). In a related move, Lord North appointed General Thomas Gage, commander of the Royal Army in New York, governor of Massachusetts, replacing Thomas Hutchinson.

TABLE 6.1 The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

Table 6.1 The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

1. Boston Port Act Closed Boston harbor to all shipping as of June 1, 1774, until the destroyed tea was paid for. Britain's objective was to halt the commercial life of the city.
2. Massachusetts Government Act Augmented the royal governor's powers. The governor could appoint the Massachusetts council, which before was elected. He could appoint and remove all judges, sheriffs, and officers of the court. Going forward, town meetings could be held only with the governor's approval.
3. Impartial Administration of Justice Act Stipulated that any royal official accused of a capital crime would be tried in Britain. The act implied that there would be further violent confrontations between British soldiers and colonists.
4. Quartering Act Permitted military commanders to lodge soldiers wherever necessary, even in private households, a step toward military rule in Massachusetts.
5. Quebec Act Not directly related to the Coercive Acts, it gave control of disputed land throughout the Ohio Valley to Quebec.

These five acts spread alarm in all the colonies. If Britain could squelch Massachusetts — change its charter, suspend local government, inaugurate military rule, and on top of that give Ohio to Catholic Quebec — what liberties were secure? Fearful royal governors in a half dozen colonies dismissed the sitting assemblies, adding to the sense of urgency. A few of the assemblies defiantly continued to meet in new locations. Via the committees of correspondence, colonial leaders arranged to convene in Philadelphia in September 1774 to respond to the crisis.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

image Four British acts of 1774 meant to punish Massachusetts for the destruction of three shiploads of tea. Known in America as the Intolerable Acts, they led to open rebellion in the northern colonies.