What were the intolerable laws?

The intolerable laws ( Intoleable Acts ) were a series of laws that the British Parliament promulgated in 1774 in response to the actions of the thirteen American colonies that claimed their economic interests; in particular, they occurred after the so-called tea party that occurred in Boston on December 16, 1773. They were also called coercive laws ( Coercive Acts ) or punitive laws ( Punitive Acts ). These laws were a catalyst for the American War of Independence, which began the year after the enactment of the intolerable laws and lasted until 1783.

Between the years 1754 and 1763, the so-called French-Indian War in North America, also known as the War of the Conquest of Canada, took place, a colonial conflict between France and England. In subsequent years, the British Parliament imposed new taxes and economic conditions on its colonies in America to cover the expenses of its empire, such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts . The laws proposed by Charles Townshend, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, were five, passed between 1767 and 1768; New York Restraining Act , Revenue Act , Indemnity Act), the Commissioners of Customs Act , and the Vice Admiralty Act .

In May 1773, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act , which allowed the British East India Company to sell its tea in the American colonies without paying taxes. Before, it was compulsory to sell the tea through London, where it was valued and taxes were collected. This law was intended to create a monopoly on the trading of tea for the British East India Company.

The colonies had reacted by resisting the Townshend Acts with a systematic boycott of British goods, and the Tea Act was an attempt by the British Parliament to break the boycott. The Sons of Liberty , an organization of American patriots that protected the rights of the colonists from the abuses of the British government, rejected the measure; thus, in the thirteen colonies British tea was boycotted and tea began to be produced locally.

In Boston the boycott turned to sabotage at the end of 1773. Three ships carrying tea from the East India Company had arrived. The Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Indians and boarded the ships on the night of December 16, then dumped 342 crates of tea into the water of Boston Harbor, taking care not to damage other merchandise. This affront to the imperial government that generated reprisals promoted by the British Prime Minister Lord Frederick North: the intolerable laws, which are described below.  

The Boston Port Act

The Boston Harbor Act was a direct retaliation for the Boston Tea Party and was passed on March 30, 1774. The act provided for the blockade of the harbor for all shipping until full restitution was made to both the Boston the East Indies and as king for lost tea and taxes. The law also provided that the seat of government for the colony should be moved to Salem. The population of Boston, including the inhabitants loyal to the British crown, was outraged by the blockade of the port, since they considered that the measure punished the entire population and not only those responsible for the riot. As supplies in the city dwindled, other colonies began sending aid to the blockaded city.

The Massachusetts Government Act

The Massachusetts Government Act was enacted on May 20, 1774. It sought to increase the control of the crown over the colonial administration. To do this, it repealed the statute of the colony and stipulated that its executive council would no longer be democratically elected but that its members would be appointed by the king. It only allowed one town meeting a year, unless the governor previously approved other meetings. As a consequence of the application of the law, General Thomas Gage dissolved the Provincial Assembly in October 1774. The Patriots then formed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, which effectively controlled this colony.

Administration of Justice Act

Administration of Justice Act was passed along with the Massachusetts Government Act. It established that officials of the empire could request a change of headquarters to another colony or to England if they were accused of criminal acts in the performance of their duties. While the law allowed witnesses to travel at a trial, few settlers could afford to leave work to testify at trial. The inhabitants of the colony felt that it was an unnecessary law, since British soldiers had received a trial just after the Boston massacre, that is, the crackdown by British soldiers on Boston citizens who protested the increase in the imposed by the crown on March 5, 1770. The Administration of Justice Act was nicknamed “the law of murder,”

The Quartering Act

The Quartering Law of 1774 was a revision of the Quartering Law of 1765, which was largely ignored by the colonial assemblies. The law expanded the places where soldiers could stay; Contrary to what was popularly believed, it did not allow the lodging of soldiers in private homes. Soldiers were generally first billeted in barracks and available public buildings, but thereafter could be billeted in inns, provisioning stations, vacant buildings, barns, and other vacant structures.

The Quebec Act

Although the Quebec Act did not directly affect the thirteen British colonies in North America, it is considered one of the intolerable laws. The Quebec Act was intended to guarantee the loyalty of Canadian subjects to the British crown; this legislation drastically expanded Quebec’s borders and allowed the free practice of the Catholic faith. Among the lands incorporated into Quebec was much of Ohio, including areas that had been promised to various colonies and many had already claimed. In addition to irritating land speculators, the spread of Catholicism in the United States was also feared.

The consequences of intolerable laws

With these laws, Lord North sought to isolate Massachusetts opponents of the British Empire while at the same time asserting the power of the British Parliament over the colonial assemblies. The laws had the opposite effect, as the other colonies sympathized with Massachusetts and, seeing their charters and rights threatened by leaders in the colonies, they organized and formed committees to discuss the impact of the intolerable laws. This culminated in the convening of the First Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. The delegates discussed various alternatives for lobbying the British Parliament and also whether to draft a bill of rights and liberties for the colonies.

By creating the Continental Association, Congress called for a boycott of all British products. If the intolerable laws were not repealed within a year, the colonies agreed to stop exports to England and support Massachusetts in case it came under attack.

Rather than being punished, Lord North’s legislation helped unite the colonies on their path to independence.

Sources

Carroll Smith-Rosenberg. This Violent Empire: The Birth of an American National . Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Harlow G. Unger. John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot . Willey, 2000.

Richard Ketchum. Divided Loyalties: How the American Revolution Came to New York . Henry Holt and Company, 2002.