2.25.2011

Coercive or just Intolerable?...















The "party" the Patriots celebrated, obviously outraged Parliament, they thought they deserved to be punished, so they passed a series of acts, the Coercive Acts, one of them was the Boston Port Act and consisted on closing the Boston Port in Boston Harbor, leaving the colonists without any trade meaning no ships came in or came out until they payed for all the tea they've dumped, including taxes; this act was passed in March 31, 1774. This was just one of the acts, but still the colonists were furious. In addition to the Boston Port Act, they passed the Quartering Act again on June 22, 1774; because of the troops they sent to "keep calm" in the colonies. Another act was the Administration of Justice Act on May 20, 1774; which basically consisted on this: if a soldier committeed a crime, they wouldn't go to the trial in the colonies, rather they took them back to England to trial. After this acts came the Massachussetts Government Act on May 20, 1774; which you already know about, but to refresh your memory it consisted on assigning the colony under the control of an appointed governor. Later on, they passed the Quebec Acts on June 2, 1774; which founded in extending the Southern Part of Canada.
The astonished and angry colonists referred as this acts as the "Intolerable Acts" while Parliament called them "Coercive Acts". For your convenience here is a list of the acts:
1) March 31, 1774 - Boston Port Act
2) May 20, 1774 - Administration of Justice Act
3) May 20, 1774 - Massachussetts Government Act
4) June 2, 1774 - Quebec Acts
5) June 22, 1774 - Quartering Act

First Continental Congress
Meanwhile, in rural Massachussetts, the crowd reacted angrily due to the Intolerable Acts, they had guns and forced the Courts of Law to shut down, assaulted anyone that accepted a job from the governor; they attacked you if you talked in favor of Parliament, and even you where exposed to being tarred and feathered. This anger just became bigger and bigger everyday, Parliament kept pushing and colonists would not accept it, because they wanted to have it their way.
But other colonies offered support to their fellow colonists, they viwe this acts as a threat to their freedom, so by Fall of 1774, delegates from all the colonies met in Philadelphia to begin the First Continental Congress. The Virginia delegates included Patrick Henry, who delivered a strong speech, better recognized for the phrase: "Give me liberty, or Give me death". He expressed that no differences existed between the colonies, because in the end they are all American. To create pressure on Parliament to withdraw the acts, Congress decided to boycott all the England imports and the Patriots established new governments that included common everyday people, over the Parliament and the Crown. By 1774, John Adams had already made the decision that he lived in a new country named America. On the other hand, most of the colonists hoped to remain with the British empire and opposed to this break out. What will happen next?

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