Learn the Intolerable Acts definition. Read about the five different laws that made up the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. Study the passage and impact of the acts.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Coercive Acts of 1774 | Definition & Purpose
Table of Contents
- Coercive Acts: Overview
- Background
- What Was the Purpose of the Coercive Acts?
- What Were the Five Coercive Acts?
- Colonial Response to the Coercive Acts
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the Coercive Acts affect the colonists?
The Coercive Acts affected the colonists, especially those living in Boston, politically and economically. For example, the Boston Port Act hurt the city's economy and increased unemployment. The Massachusetts Government Act took away the colonists' say in who governed them by replacing an elected council with an appointed one.
What was the main purpose of the Intolerable Acts?
The main purpose of the Intolerable Acts was to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, a political protest during which colonists dumped hundreds of chests of tea belonging to the East India Company into Boston Harbor. The acts strained Boston economically, increased British control over the colony's government, and sent a message to the other colonies that opposition would not be tolerated.
What were the five Intolerable Acts?
The five Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act.
Table of Contents
- Coercive Acts: Overview
- Background
- What Was the Purpose of the Coercive Acts?
- What Were the Five Coercive Acts?
- Colonial Response to the Coercive Acts
- Lesson Summary
What were the Coercive Acts? The Coercive Acts (1774) were four punitive acts by the British Parliament in response to colonial opposition, taken together with the Quebec Act. American colonists used the term Intolerable Acts to define the acts. The effects of the acts fell mostly on Boston, which was seen as a center of resistance after the Boston Tea Party. The acts closed the Boston Harbor, reduced the status of the Massachusetts colony, allowed British officers to be put on trial overseas, and developed pre-existing arrangements for quartering British troops in American homes. The Quebec Act removed the possibility of colonial jurisdiction over territory between Ohio and Mississippi and gave it to the province of Quebec. Although Britain hoped to quell the Patriots by passing the Coercive Acts, in reality, they became the reason for the First Continental Congress, which was convened later in 1774. Discontent stirred by the Coercive Acts lead to the beginning of the American Revolution.
Intolerable Acts: Definition and Perception
The difference in how the acts were perceived in Britain and the colonies is reflected in the names and definition given to them in each place. The Coercive Acts were viewed by Britain as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party of 1773. They were justified as protecting British trade and restoring the government of the colony, which they perceived as having descended into mob rule. The acts were meant to quell Massachusetts bay and send a warning to the other colonies.
The colonists obviously did not approve of what they called the Intolerable Acts. The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774, to coordinate a response to the British acts. In direct opposition to Britain's wishes, the colonies unified together to create an unprecedented mass response.
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What was the Coercive Acts' historical background? Several factors had contributed to creating a tense relationship between Britain and the colonists before the Coercive Acts were passed. Not least of those was the Boston Tea Party, a political protest which had occurred in December 1773 and lead to hundreds of British East India Company chests of tea being dumped into the harbor. Other pressing issues included the effects of the Seven Years War and the end of Salutary Neglect.
The Seven Year's War
The Seven Year's War (1756-1763) was a major conflict involving all the great powers of Europe. The war included overseas colonial struggles between Britain and France in India and North America. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, gave Britain, among other things, control of all North American territory east of the Mississippi River. Some colonists wanted to expanded westward into these newly gained territories, but the British passed the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonists from settling to the west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British passed these laws in order to avoid conflict with Native Americans, but they lead to discontent among some colonists. The war also greatly increased Great Britain's debt. Britain chose to impose new taxes on the colonies to mitigate this debt, but they were widely unpopular and contributed to colonial discontent.
The End of Salutary Neglect
Salutary Neglect was a British policy from the early to mid-eighteenth century, under which the North American colonies were laxly regulated and allowed to functional with minimal imperial supervision as long as they remained loyal and contributed to the economic profit of Great Britain. The policy led to greater autonomy within colonial legal and legislative institutions. Under Salutary Neglect, Britain turned a blind eye to the colonist's breaking of trade regulations. The end of Salutary Neglect Policy is often linked with the end of the Seven Year's War and British Parliament's desire to enforce trade regulations which would contribute to decreasing the war debt. In 1964 and 1965 British Parliament passed the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, which cracked down on sugar smuggling and imposed directed taxes on colonial goods, respectively.
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So, why did the Crown pass the so called Intolerable Acts? The Coercive Acts were meant to punish colonial resistance to British policy. They were in large part a response to the Boston Tea Party, a protest against "taxation without representation" in which American colonists dumped chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. For this reason, many of the effects of the acts fell heavily on the colony of Massachusetts and Boston, which was seen as a center of colonial resistance. The acts were meant to weaken Massachusetts economically and politically, while increasing British governmental and military control. The Coercive acts were also meant to be a warning to the other colonies about the consequences of opposing British policy.
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What were the 5 laws of the intolerable acts? What was the purpose of the Coercive Acts and what did the Coercive Acts do?The five Coercive Acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. These acts had a variety of aims and effects, but were generally meant to tighten the reigns on the colonies economically and politically.
The Boston Port Act
The Boston Port Act, was an act passed on March 31, 1774, which authorized the Royal Navy to blockade Boston Harbor until Boston had repaid the British East India Company for the tea destroyed and the Boston Tea Party. The blockade forbade export to foreign states or provinces, and the only imports allowed were supplies for the British Army. The act weakened the colony's economy, increased unemployment, and starved the people of Boston.
The Massachusetts Government Act
The Massachusettes Government Act was passed on May 20, 1774. It abrogated the colony's 1691 charter and reduced it to the status of a crown colony. The elective local council was replaced by an appointed one, and town meetings were to be allowed only with official approval. The act increased the power of the military governor and weakened representative government.
The Administration of Justice Act
The Administration of Justice Act was also passed on May 20, 1774. This act allowed the governor to move a trial to another colony or to Great Britain. The act allowed British officials who had committed capital offenses during enforcement of British laws to be protected and moved abroad.
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was passed on June 2, 1774. This act allowed military officials to demand their troops be housed in "uninhabited houses, out-houses, barns, or other buildings," if there was no adequate accommodation in the barracks. This act increased the proximity of the British military and the colonists.
The Quebec Act
The Quebec Act is included here as one of the Intolerable Acts, although it is sometimes considered separately. The act was passed on June 22, 1774, and gave the province of Quebec the lands between the Ohio and Mississipi Rivers. This established French civil law and Roman Catholocism in the area, which was unpopular with the mainly Protestant colonists to the south. It also gave Quebec control of the region's profitable fur trade.
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Although Britain passed the Intolerable Acts in order to constrain colonial resistance, the discontent they stirred had the opposite effect. Many colonies sympathized with Massachusetts and sent supplies and aid when the Boston Port Act weakened the colony's economy. Unified colonial response at the First Continental Congress and continued resistance in Massachusetts set the stage for the beginning of the American Revolution.
The First Continental Congress
In direct opposition to Britain's desires, representatives from all the colonies except Georgia met for the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, to formulate a general response to the Coercive Acts. The aims of the representatives differed. Some delegates were instructed to seek unity with Britain, while the more radically inclined advocated for separation. Among the ideas proposed were the formation of a Grand Council to represent the colonies collectively and a pact for the nonimportation of British goods.
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Growing Tensions and Revolution
In response to restrictions imposed by the Coercive Acts, the Massachusetts colonial assembly instructed townships to prepare their militias. In April 1775 the British ordered the governor to disarm the militias. An army of 700 British soldiers was sent to Concord to destroy the rebels' arms and ammunition. Skirmishes between the British soldiers and militiamen, first at Lexington and then and Concord, are considered the first conflicts of the Revolutionary War.
Coercive Acts: Dates and Timeline
The Coercive Acts date to a time of high tensions between the American colonies and the Crown. They are an important element to understanding the historical period immediately preceeding the American Revolution.
- 1756-1763: The Seven Year's War is fought.
- 1760s: British reverse policy of Salutary Neglect and impose direct taxes on the colonies.
- March 31, 1774: The Boston Port Act is passed.
- May 20, 1774: The Massachusetts Government Act and the Administration of Justice Act are passed.
- June 2, 1774: The Quartering Act is passed.
- June 22, 1774: The Quebec Act is passed.
- September 5, 1774: The First Continental Congress is convened.
- April 19, 1775: The Battles of Lexington and Concord are fought, marking the beginning of the American Revolution.
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The Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts as they were known in the American colonies, were a series of five acts passed by the British Parliament in 1774 as a punitive measure in response to the Boston Tea Party. The acts were designed to damage the colony of Massachusetts economically and politically. The acts exacerbated tensions between the colonies and Britain, leading to the First Continental Congress and the outbreak of the American Revolution.
The Coercive Acts and the Boston Tea part took place at a moment of already heightened tensions. After the Seven Year's War (1756-1763), Britain reversed its policy of Salutary Neglect, under which the colonies had been laxly regulated and granted a high level of legal and legislative autonomy. British Parliament imposed taxies on the colonies in order to pay off its war debt. These taxes were unpopular, and in 1773 colonists at the Boston Tea Party threw hundreds of cases of tea owned by the British East India Company into Boston Harbor.
The Coercive Acts had a variety of aims and effects. They were designed to ban town meetings in Massachusetts, increase British control over the colonies, and punish previous acts of rebellion by the colonists. These acts damaged Massachusetts economically and politically and angered the colonists.
- The Boston Port Act created a blockade of the port at Boston until the East India Company was repaid for the tea destroyed at the Boston Tea Party.
- The Massachusettes Government Act replaced the elected local council of Massachusetts with an appointed one, reduced the status of the colony, and increased the power of the military governor.
- The Administration of Justice Act allowed the governer to send British officers overseas to be tried.
- The Quartering Act allowed British officers to quarter their soldiers in the buildings of residents.
- The Quebec Act gave the province of Quebec control of land reaching down to the Ohio River.
Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia convened at the First Continental Congress in September 1774 to discuss a coordinated response to the Coercive Acts. Ideas heard at the congress included establishing a unified colonial representative body and a pact against the importation of British goods. In Massachussets, the colonial assembly instructed townships to ready their militias. When the governor of Massachusettes set out with an army of British soldiers, battles and Lexington and Concord marked the start the American Revolution.
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Video Transcript
Tensions Arise
During the 1760s and 1770s, tensions between the British Crown and the American colonies were rising. The British Crown would raise taxes or limit the freedom of the colonists, and the American colonists would commit acts of protest. In turn, the British would then punish the colonies with more restrictions or taxes. This created a cycle of mistrust and hostility.
By 1774, the Revolutionary War had not yet officially broken out, but the revolutionary mindset was growing thanks to important pieces of legislation: the Coercive Acts. Passed throughout 1774, the Coercive Acts were a series of laws that restricted trade and increased British control in Boston and the rest of Massachusetts. The Coercive Acts were designed to scare and silence the colonists, but they actually brought the colonies closer together and closer to outright rebellion.
Boston Tea Party
The Coercive Acts were actually a direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773, which was itself a protest of the restrictive 1773 Tea Act. The British Crown passed the Tea Act to give the British a monopoly over tea sales in the colonies. The colonies resented such overreach, and some colonists in Boston responded by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
Needless to say, the Boston Tea Party did not sit well with the British! Remember that cycle of mistrust and hostility? Here we go again. The British could not let the Boston Tea Party go unpunished. They wanted to send a message to Boston (and the rest of the colonies) that any sign of protest and rebellion would not be tolerated.
The Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were that message. The Coercive Acts began as three separate laws passed in 1774, designed to punish Massachusetts in particular. More generally, the Coercive Acts also included an additional two laws from 1774 that affected other parts of the colonies. Altogether, these five laws also became known as the Intolerable Acts. Today, the terms ''Intolerable Acts'' and ''Coercive Acts'' are used almost interchangeably.
The first Coercive Act, the Boston Port Act, crippled Boston's economy because it required the colonists to pay for all the tea they destroyed in the Boston Tea Party. Until they could do so, Boston Harbor was shut down to trade. The second law was the Massachusetts Government Act, and it banned town meetings in Massachusetts and gave the British Crown more direct control over Massachusetts. The third law, The Administration of Justice Act, protected British officials from being prosecuted for criminal offenses in Massachusetts, which essentially gave British officials free reign to oppress the colonists without fear of being punished.
A fourth law, called the Quartering Act, reinforced an earlier law that said the British could house their soldiers in the colonists' homes and businesses. Finally, a fifth law, the Quebec Act, revised the governance and the territory of Quebec. Though this last act was not meant to punish the colonists, they still saw it as an act of tyranny.
Reaction to the Coercive Acts
The colonists grew more and more irritated with the passage of each Coercive (or Intolerable) Act. As a result of the Coercive Acts, the boldest of American patriots were convinced of the need for revolution; even the more moderate colonists were greatly annoyed by the acts and wanted something to be done. Many colonies sent supplies and aid to Massachusetts because it was being economically crippled by the Boston Port Act.
Perhaps the most notable response to the Coercive Acts was the decision to convene the First Continental Congress in September, 1774. The First Continental Congress would not declare independence or war quite yet, but they were determined to petition the British government on behalf of all the colonies. So, all in all, instead of silencing the colonists as they were intended to do, the Coercive Acts only united the colonists, and convinced more and more of them of the need for independence.
Lesson Summary
The Coercive Acts were a series of laws passed in 1774 that restricted trade and increased British control in Boston and the rest of Massachusetts. Also known as the Intolerable Acts, they were made up of the following individual measures:
- The Boston Port Act required the colonists to pay for all the tea they destroyed in the Boston Tea Party.
- The Massachusetts Government Act banned town meetings in Massachusetts and gave the British Crown more direct control over Massachusetts.
- The Administration of Justice Act protected British officials from being prosecuted for criminal offenses in Massachusetts.
- The Quartering Act reinforced an earlier law that said the British could house their soldiers in the colonists' homes and businesses.
- The Quebec Act revised the governance and the territory of Quebec.
Though these acts were designed to warn the American colonists that rebellion would not be tolerated, the Coercive Acts would, in fact, bring the American colonies one step closer to outright revolution.
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Coercive Acts of 1774 | Definition & Purpose
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