THE INTOLERABLE ACTS

The British were extremely quick to act in punishing the colonists. The Intolerable Acts alt took effect by May of 1774. The port of Boston was closed except for military ships and ships specifically permitted by British custom officials. The upper house of the Massachusetts Assembly would now be appointed by the king instead of being elected by the lower house. Town meetings could not be held without the governor’s consent, and the Quartering Act was again put into effect. Many concerned citizens in other colonics feared that similar actions could easily occur elsewhere. As a result, several colonial legislatures suggested a meeting of representatives from all the colonics to discuss the situation in Massachusetts. The passage of the Quebec Act by the British further alarmed many colonial leaders. Among other things, this act increased the religious freedom of French Catholics. To many Protestants in the colonies, Catholicism was easily equated with the absolutist French monarchy of the eighteenth century.