Intolerable Acts

Tarring and Feathring

After all the forms of protest, especially the Boston Tea Party, Parliament was angered by the Bostonian actions. In order to teach the colonists a lesson, they created the Coercive Acts. This acts were passed with the purpose to punish colonists in Boston for the destruction of private property (Boston Tea Party) and to restore British authority and power in Massachusetts. The Coercive Acts were called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists, they rejected the idea that the British could shut down trade and change colonial government at will. The Intolerable Acts included five acts:

1) Boston Port Act: it closed the port of Boston until the East India Company had been paid for the  destroyed tea. No ship could enter or leave Boston.

2)Massachusetts Government Act: this act altered the government of Massachusetts and gave even more power to Parliament. Town meetings were now been held just once every year.

3) Administration of Justice Act: it stated that any soldier who committed a crime at the colonies would go to trial in England. George Washington called this the "Murder Act" because it allowed the British to torment colonists and then escape justice. Some colonists thought this act wasn't needed because British soldiers had had fair trial before, during the Boston Massacre.

4) Quartering Act: the king sent troops to the colonies to make them obey and so colonies were forced to give them shelter.

 5) Quebec Act: this act enlarged the property of the Providence of Quebec, and land was taken away from some colonies.

In Massachusetts, the colonists reacted violently. Everyone who worked for the government, talked in their favor or accepted their laws were assaulted. Tarring and Feathering was a common punishment used by the colonists. It consisted in pouring hot tar over the person and then throwing feathers at him. This methosdwas both painful and humiliating.