Intolerable Acts

Intolerable Acts
or Coercive Acts

(1774) Four punitive measures enacted by the British Parliament against the American colonies.

Boston's harbour was closed until restitution was made for the tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party; the Massachusetts colony's charter was annulled and a military governor installed; British officials charged with capital offenses could go to England for trial; and arrangement for housing British troops in American houses was revived. The Quebec Act added to these oppressive measures. The acts, called "intolerable" by the colonists, led to a convening of the Continental Congress.

* * *

Great Britain [1774]
also called  Coercive Acts 

      (1774), in U.S. colonial history, four punitive measures enacted by the British Parliament in retaliation for acts of colonial defiance, together with the Quebec Act establishing a new administration for the territory ceded to Britain after the French and Indian War (1754–63).

      Angered by the Boston Tea Party (1773), the British government passed the Boston Port Bill, closing that city's harbour until restitution was made for the destroyed tea. Second, the Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the colony's charter of 1691, reducing it to the level of a crown colony, substituting a military government under General Thomas Gage, and forbidding town meetings without approval.

      The third, the Administration of Justice Act, was aimed at protecting British officials charged with capital offenses during law enforcement by allowing them to go to England or another colony for trial. The fourth Coercive Act included new arrangements for housing British troops in occupied American dwellings, thus reviving the indignation that surrounded the earlier Quartering Act, which had been allowed to expire in 1770.

      The Quebec Act, under consideration since 1773, removed all the territory and fur trade between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from possible colonial jurisdiction and awarded it to the province of Quebec. By establishing French civil law and the Roman Catholic religion in the coveted area, Britain acted liberally toward Quebec's settlers but raised the spectre of popery before the mainly Protestant colonies to Canada's south.

      The Intolerable Acts represented an attempt to reimpose strict British control over the American colonies, but after 10 years of vacillation, the decision to be firm had come too late. Rather than cowing Massachusetts and separating it from the other colonies, the oppressive measures became the justification for convening the First Continental Congress later in 1774.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Intolerable Acts — Actes intolérables Actes intolérables Titre Coercive Acts (Actes coercitifs) ou Punitive Acts (Actes punitifs) Pays  Royaume Uni Type Loi du Parlement (Royaume Uni) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Intolerable Acts — This cartoon depicting the Intolerable Acts as an assault upon a Native American woman (a symbol of the American colonies) was copied and distributed in North America The Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to describe a series… …   Wikipedia

  • Intolerable Acts — Vergewaltigung der Personifizierung Bostons durch die Briten, diese britische Zeichnung wurde von Paul Revere vervielfältigt und verbreitete sich rasch über die Kolonien Unerträgliche Gesetze (englisch: Intolerable Acts, auch Coercive Acts)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Intolerable Acts — three acts imposed on the American Colonies in 1774 by the British as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party (also known as The Coercive Acts) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Intolerable Act — Vergewaltigung der Personifizierung Bostons durch die Briten, diese britische Zeichnung wurde von Paul Revere vervielfältigt und verbreitete sich rasch über die Kolonien Die Unerträglichen Gesetze (englisch: Intolerable Acts, auch Coercive Acts)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Coercive Acts — Actes intolérables Actes intolérables Titre Coercive Acts (Actes coercitifs) ou Punitive Acts (Actes punitifs) Pays  Royaume Uni Type Loi du Parlement (Royaume Uni) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Punitive Acts — Actes intolérables Actes intolérables Titre Coercive Acts (Actes coercitifs) ou Punitive Acts (Actes punitifs) Pays  Royaume Uni Type Loi du Parlement (Royaume Uni) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coercive Acts — Vergewaltigung der Personifizierung Bostons durch die Briten, diese britische Zeichnung wurde von Paul Revere vervielfältigt und verbreitete sich rasch über die Kolonien Die Unerträglichen Gesetze (englisch: Intolerable Acts, auch Coercive Acts)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Coercive Acts — three acts imposed on the American Colonies in 1774 by the British as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party (also known as The Intolerable Acts) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Actes coercitifs — Actes intolérables Actes intolérables Titre Coercive Acts (Actes coercitifs) ou Punitive Acts (Actes punitifs) Pays  Royaume Uni Type Loi du Parlement (Royaume Uni) …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”