The Coercive Acts
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British to the detriment of colonial goods. In Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts.
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying t…
What is the Tea Act of 1773?
The Tea Act. A view of the Town of Boston in New England and British ships of war landing their troops, 1768. Boston Public Library. The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies.
How did the Tea Act affect the British colonies?
Additionally, under the Tea Act, duties Britain charged on tea shipped to the American colonies would be waived or refunded upon sale. With the passing of the Tea Act, the seventeen million pounds of unsold surplus tea the British East India Company owned could be sold to markets in the American colonies.
What was the purpose of the Tea Act of 1832 Quizlet?
The act’s main purpose was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to bail out the floundering East India Company, a key actor in the British economy. The British government granted the company a monopoly on the importation and sale of tea in the colonies.
Why was tea taxed in 1770?
The tax on tea had existed since the passing of the 1767 Townshend Revenue Act. Along with tea, the Townshend Revenue Act also taxed glass, lead, oil, paint, and paper. Due to boycotts and protests, the Townshend Revenue Act’s taxes were repealed on all commodities except tea in 1770.
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What was the Tea Act in simple terms?
What Was the Tea Act? In 1773, tea was the most popular drink among the American colonists. The Tea Act was a law set in place on May 10, 1773 by the British Parliament, giving all control of the trade and delivery of tea to the East India Tea Company, which had struck a deal with parliament.
What was the Tea Act and why did it anger the colonists?
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor.
Why did colonists hate the Tea Act?
American colonists were outraged over the tea tax. They believed the Tea Act was a tactic to gain colonial support for the tax already enforced. The direct sale of tea by agents of the British East India Company to the American colonies undercut the business of colonial merchants.
Why did they make the Tea Act?
On April 27, 1773, the British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade.
What angered the colonists about the Tea Act?
Besides the tax on tea which had been in place since 1767, what fundamentally angered the American colonists about the Tea Act was the British East India Company's government sanctioned monopoly on tea.
What was the purpose of the Tea Act quizlet?
The Tea Act meant that the colonists had to buy their tea from the East India Company. They could either pay the tax on tea or not drink tea at all.
Why did the colonists object to the Tea Act quizlet?
The colonists opposed the Tea Act because they believed that Parliament did not have the right to tax the tea, and they did not want to be forced to buy it from only one company. What was the Boston Tea Party? On December 16, 1773, three ships carrying British tea lay anchored in Boston Harbor.
Why was the Tea Act of 1773 passed quizlet?
In 1773 the British the British parliament passed the Tea Act. It was ment to help the British in the East India company. The Tea Act actually lowered the price of tea.
What was the purpose of the Tea Act?
Tea Act, (1773), in British American colonial history, legislative maneuver by the British ministry of Lord North to make English tea marketable in America. A previous crisis had been averted in 1770 when all the Townshend Acts duties had been lifted except that on tea, which had been mainly supplied to the Colonies since then by Dutch smugglers.
Why did the Tea Act reorganize excise regulations?
In an effort to help the financially troubled British East India Company sell 17,000,000 pounds of tea stored in England, the Tea Act rearranged excise regulations so that the company could pay the Townshend duty and still undersell its competitors.
What was the Tea Act?
The Tea Act was the final straw in a series of unpopular policies and taxes imposed by Britain on her American colonies. The policy ignited a “powder keg” of opposition and resentment among American colonists and was the catalyst of the Boston Tea Party. The passing of the Tea Act imposed no new taxes on the American colonies.
What angered the American colonists about the Tea Act?
Besides the tax on tea which had been in place since 1767, what fundamentally angered the American colonists about the Tea Act was the British East India Company’s government sanctioned monopoly on tea. The Tea Act …was what ultimately compelled a group of Sons of Liberty. on the night of December 16, 1773 to disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians, ...
Why did the colonists oppose the Tea Act?
American colonists were outraged over the tea tax, which had existed since the 1767 Townshend Revenue Act and did not get repealed like the other taxes in 1770, and believed the Tea Act was a tactic to gain colonial support for the tax already enforced .
What was the direct sale of tea by agents of the British East India Company to the American colonies?
The direct sale of tea by agents of the British East India Company to the American colonies undercut the business of colonial merchants. Prior to the Tea Act, colonial merchants purchased tea directly from British markets or smuggled from illegal markets. They then shipped it back to the colonies for resale.
What was the catalyst for the Boston Tea Party?
The Tea Act: The Catalyst of the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act , passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. This was what ultimately compelled a group of Sons of Liberty members on the night of December 16, 1773 to disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians, ...
Why was the Tea Tax repealed?
Due to boycotts and protests, the Townshend Revenue Act’s taxes were repealed on all commodities except tea in 1770. The tea tax was kept in order to maintain Parliament’s right to tax the colonies.
How much surplus tea was sold to the colonies?
With the passing of the Tea Act, the seventeen million pounds of unsold surplus tea the British East India Company owned could be sold to markets in the American colonies. The tea was to be shipped to the American colonies and sold at a reduced rate.
What was the tea act 1773?
Tea Act 1773. Parliament of Great Britain. Long title. An act to allow a drawback of the duties of customs on the exportation of tea or oil to any of his Majesty's colonies or plantations or farms in America; to increase the deposit on bohea tea to be sold at the East India Company's sales; and to empower the commissioners ...
What was the purpose of the Tea Act?
The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea, ...
What was the cause of the American Revolutionary War?
These harsh measures united many colonists even more in their frustrations against Britain, and were one of the many causes of the American Revolutionary War . The Taxation of Colonies Act 1778 repealed the tea tax and others that had been imposed on the colonies, but it proved insufficient to end the war.
How much tea did the smugglers import?
Smugglers imported some 900,000 pounds (410,000 kg) of cheap foreign tea per year. The quality of the smuggled tea did not match the quality of the dutiable East India Company tea, of which the Americans bought 562,000 pounds (255,000 kg) per year.
Why did the Sons of Liberty encourage the consumption of smuggled tea?
Although the British tea was more appealing in flavor, some Patriots like the Sons of Liberty encouraged the consumption of smuggled tea as a political protest against the Townshend taxes. In 1770 most of the Townshend taxes were repealed, but taxes on tea were retained.
What happened to the tea in the colonies?
In Charleston, the colonists left the tea on the docks to rot. Governor Hutchinson in Boston was determined to leave the ships in port, even though vigilant colonists refused to allow the tea to be landed.
What was the Boston Tea Party?
The Boston Tea Party appalled British political opinion makers of all stripes. The action united all parties in Britain against the American radicals. Parliament enacted the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor until the dumped tea was paid for. This was the first of the so-called Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts as they were called by the colonists, passed by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party. These harsh measures united many colonists even more in their frustrations against Britain, and were one of the many causes of the American Revolutionary War .
Why did the Tea Act not raise taxes?
The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies , and in fact imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price.
Where did the tea ships go when the colonists left the ship?
Colonists in Philadelphia and New York turned the tea ships back to Britain. In Charleston the cargo was left to rot on the docks. In Boston the Royal Governor was stubborn and held the ships in port, where the colonists would not allow them to unload.
Why did the Townshend Duties still exist?
The Townshend Duties were still in place, however, and the radical leaders in America found reason to believe that this act was a maneuver to buy popular support for the taxes already in force. The direct sale of tea, via British agents, would also have undercut the business of local merchants.
What was the name of the four acts that were passed in 1773?
In response to colonial resistance to British rule during the winter of 1773–74, Parliament was determined to reassert its authority in America and passed four acts that were known as the Coercive Acts in Britain but were labeled the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. Because Boston had been the center of resistance, ...
When was the Quartering Act passed?
Read more about the Quartering Act of 1765.
What were the four coercive acts?
The four acts were (1) the Boston Port Bill, which closed Boston Harbor; (2) the Massachusetts Government Act, which replaced the elective local government with an appointive one ...
What were the effects of the British colonial resistance?
The cumulative effect of the reports of colonial resistance to British rule during the winter of 1773–74 was to make Parliament more determined than ever to assert its authority in America. The main force of its actions fell on Boston, which seemed to be the centre of colonial hostility. First, the British government, angered by the Boston Tea Party (1773), 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, replacing the elective local council with an appointive one, enhancing the powers of the military governor, Gen. Thomas Gage, and forbidding town meetings without approval. 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 Intolerable 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. Passed on June 2, 1774, the new Quartering Act applied to all of British America and gave colonial governors the right to requisition unoccupied buildings to house British troops. However, in Massachusetts the British troops were forced to remain camped on the Boston Common until the following November because the Boston patriots refused to allow workmen to repair the vacant buildings General Gage had obtained for quarters.
What was the Massachusetts government act?
Second, the Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the colony’s charter of 1691, reducing it to the level of a crown colony, replacing the elective local council with an appointive one, enhancing the powers of the military governor, Gen. Thomas Gage, and forbidding town meetings without approval.
What are the Intolerable Acts?
Intolerable Acts, 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 ...
Why was Boston the center of resistance to British rule during the winter of 1773–74?
Because Boston had been the center of resistance to British rule during the winter of 1773–74, it was the focus of the four Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) passed by Parliament in 1774 to reassert its authority in America. The Boston Port Bill closed Boston Harbor until restitution was made for the tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party (1773).
What were the Intolerable Acts of 1774?
Washington's World Colonial Music Institute Quotes. The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party . The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, ...
What was the Quebec Act of 1774?
The Quebec Act of 1774 is sometimes included as one of the Coercive Acts, although it was not related to the Boston Tea Party. These oppressive acts sparked strong colonial resistance, including the meeting of the First Continental Congress, which George Washington attended in September and October 1774.
What was the Quartering Act?
The Quartering Act was the fourth and final of the main Coercive Acts. It was given royal assent on June 2, 1774. The only act of the four to apply to all of the colonies, it allowed high-ranking military officials to demand better accommodations for troops and to refuse inconvenient locations for quarters.
Why did the Coercive Acts break Massachusetts Bay?
The Coercive Acts were meant to break Massachusetts Bay and to warn the other colonies of the consequences of rebellious behavior.
What did George Washington advocate for?
While attending the Congress, Washington advocated for what he called “the non-importation scheme,” or the boycott of British imports, which was similar to the Fairfax Resolves that he had earlier co-authored with George Mason. 7 The Coercive Acts caused a clear shift in American public opinion.
Why was the Boston Port Act passed?
The act authorized the Royal Navy to blockade Boston Harbor because “the commerce of his Majesty’s subjects cannot be safely carried on there.".
What was the Massachusetts Government Act?
The Massachusetts Government Act imperiled representative government in the colony. Assuming that Massachusetts was under mob rule, and to " [preserve] . . . the peace and good order of the said province," Parliament passed the act on May 20, 1774.
