978-1-4222-3353-5

Seeds of Revolution

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The Boston Tea Party, as the incident came to be called, infuriated Brit- ish officials. In 1774, Parliament passed four laws known collectively as the Coercive Acts. Three of the acts were intended to bring the defiant Massachusetts colonists to heel. The Boston Port Act closed Boston to all shipping until Massachusetts paid for the tea that had been destroyed. The Massachusetts Government Act gave the royal governor authority to appoint officials who had previously been elected. It also banned townmeet- ings. The Administration of Government Act allowed the royal governor to move trials of Massachusetts officials to England, where verdicts the Crown wanted were more likely. Under the Quartering Act, any colony could be required to house British troops in inns, barns, or unused buildings. The harshness of Parliament’s actions stunned Massachusetts citizens. Patriot leaders convinced most of the colony’s counties to shut down their courts rather than comply with the new laws. In Suffolk County—which included Boston—Patriots issued a bold declaration called the Suffolk Resolves. It denied that Massachusetts was under any obligation to obey the Coercive Acts. It urged the withholding of tax payments to the colo- nial government. And, most radically, it proposed the establishment of a “provincial Congress.” The Resolves said the provincial Congress would Bostonians dressed as Indians throw crates of tea into Boston Harbor, December 16, 1773. In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government closed the port and imposed strict rules on the Massachusetts colony.

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