Acts Imposed on the Colonies

Quartering Act (1765)

• Cost-saving measure that required colonies to house & supply British soldiers, increasing expenses for colonial communities. Only demanded that colonies provides barracks for soldiers

Tea Act (1773)- was the final straw in a series of unpopular policies and taxes imposed by Britain on her American colonies. The policy ignited a “powder keg” of opposition and resentment among American colonists and was the catalyst of the Boston Tea Party.

• Placed a tax on Non-English tea & gave the British East India Co. control over tea trade at the expense of colonial merchants

Intolerable (Coercive) Acts (1774)- series of Acts imposed on American Colonies in response to the Boston Tea Party. Dubbed the Intolerable Acts because Patriots simply would not tolerate such unfair laws.

• Closed the port of Boston until price of tea was recovered • Gave more power to the governor (appointed by Great Britain) and took power away from colonists. Royal governor had to approve all town meetings in Massachusetts. • Expanded British Canada into the Ohio River Valley and granted civil government & religious freedom to Catholics living in Quebec. • Also included the expanded version of the Quartering Act, which now allowed troops to move into private homes.

Townshend Acts (1767)-a series of four acts passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what it considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies

• Suspended New York’s assembly & placed taxes on glass, paper, paint, lead and tea increasing the expense for colonial businesses

Stamp Act (1765)- an act regulating stamp duty (a tax on the legal recognition of documents).

• Law requiring diplomas, contracts, & wills to have an official stamp showing that a tax has been paid, increasing expense for colonial citizens & businesses.

Sugar Act (1764)- also known as the Revenue Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain

• Placed a tax on sugar and molasses & enforced punishment of smugglers, impacting colonial merchants

Declaratory Act (1766)- declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that the British Parliament's taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain; to affirm its power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”.

• Stated that Parliament had TOTAL and COMPLETE authority over the colonies.