American Revolution in Massachusetts

An overview of Massachusetts' history during America's Revolutionary Era.

March-September, 1774

Also called the Coercive Acts, the Intolerable Acts were a series of laws were passed by Parliament that primarily targeted Massachusetts Bay Colony as a form of punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The laws placed severe restrictions on the economy and governance of Massachusetts in the hopes of isolating the rebellious radicals in the colony. Instead, they had the opposite effect: sympathy for the residents of Boston and Massachusetts as well as anger at what was seen by some as an increasingly tyrannical monarchy drew widespread support for the Patriots from the other colonies.

The able doctor, or American swallowing the bitter draught [1774]

The Intolerable Acts

Boston Port Act
Text of Act

Closed the port of Boston until restitution could be made for the destroyed tea.

Some colonists felt this unfairly punished the entire town for the actions of a few without being granted the opportunity to plead their case. The presence of the British Army grew considerably and the Navy set up a blockade of the harbor. Shutting down the port cut off all residents of Massachusetts from their primary source of supplies, and other sympathetic colonies sent relief supplies to the struggling colonists.

Administration of Justice Act
Text of Act

Allowed the royal governor to order the trials of royal officials to be moved to England in the event that they were charged with a capital offense.

Many considered this to be a wholly unnecessary act, because the defendants charged with crimes related to the Boston Massacre had received an adequate defense and a fair trial. It was also referred to as the Murder Act, because it was believed that officials would be able to get away with capital offenses once they were removed to England.

Massachusetts Government Act
Text of Act

Effectively revoked Massachusetts Bay Colony’s charter and brought it under direct royal control, severely restricted town meetings and required most official positions to be filled by royal appointment, and it made General Thomas Gage the royal governor.

Patriots set up their own government, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress (MPC), and expressed their belief that the Act nullified the relationship between the monarchy and the people of Massachusetts. The MPC basically controlled all affairs outside of Boston due to the lack of British soldiers necessary to enforce the new law elsewhere in the colony. Until the Massachusetts State Constitution was adopted in 1780, the MPC functioned as the main governing body of Massachusetts.

Quartering Act
Text of Act

A renewal of the expired 1765 Quartering Act, which ordered colonists to provide housing and food for British soldiers. The 1774 Act added the provision that the royal governor could house soldiers in unoccupied buildings without the consent of the owners if proper barracks were not provided.

Many colonies had objected to the 1765 Act and found ways to circumvent it; in Boston barracks were provided for soldiers on an isolated island in the harbor. Patriots also objected to the 1774 Act. Workmen hired to repair buildings requisitioned by the royal governor for barracks were not allowed to complete their work, forcing British soldiers to camp on the Common until November of 1775. It is also believed that the 1774 Act allowed soldiers to occupy private homes.

Quebec Act
Text of Act

Declared that the western region north of the Ohio River belonged to Quebec, re-established French civil law in the province, allowed for the free practice of Catholicism.

Designed primarily to appease the predominantly Catholic French Canadians in Quebec, the Act angered the colonists because of the restriction of the power of English law and the removal of lands previously granted to frontier colonies represented a further step towards the absolute rule of the monarchy. Strong anti-Catholic sentiment in the largely Protestant colonies also factored into their negative view of the Act.

Suffolk Resolves

Passed on September 9, 1774
Text of Resolves

In response to the Intolerable Acts, a convention was held in Milton with representatives from all towns in Suffolk County in which 19 resolutions were passed. These resolutions rejected the Massachusetts Government Act, called for boycotts of British imports, encouraged colonists to stop paying taxes, and advised that militias begin training every week. A copy of the Suffolk Resolves was sent to Philadelphia where it was officially endorsed by the First Continental Congress.