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How did the Intolerable Acts punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party?
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American Revolution
The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis (at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781), oil on canvas by John Trumbull, completed in 1820; in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Washington, D.C. The painting captures the moment when major fighting during the American Revolution ended and the colonies achieved independence.
In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament enacted the Intolerable Acts in 1774 to punish Massachusetts and assert control over the colony. These four punitive measures included:123
- Boston Port Bill: Closed Boston Harbor to all commerce until the colony made restitution for the destroyed tea.13
- Massachusetts Government Act: Revoked the colony’s 1691 charter, replaced the elective local council with an appointive one, increased the authority of the military governor, and prohibited town meetings without official approval.13
- Administration of Justice Act: Allowed British officials charged with capital offenses in Massachusetts to be tried in another colony or in England, a measure colonists dubbed the "Murder Act" because they feared it ensured acquittals.143
- Quartering Act: Authorized the requisition of unoccupied buildings to house British troops, further straining relations between the military and local residents.123
Rather than subduing the colony, these measures unified colonial opposition and served as the primary justification for convening the First Continental Congress later that year.423