The Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774.
These acts were enacted in response to the Boston Tea Party and other acts of colonial resistance to British rule.
The primary goal of these laws was to punish the Massachusetts colonists, particularly those in Boston, and to reassert British authority over the American colonies.
The colonists considered these measures to be a "virtual declaration of war" by the British government.
In Great Britain and the American colonies at the time, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts; the term "Intolerable Acts" did not become common until the 19th century.
The Intolerable Acts included
the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea, and
the Massachusetts Government Act, which abrogated the colony's 1691 charter and placed Massachusetts under stricter British control.
the Administration of Justice Act allowed royal officials accused of crimes in Massachusetts to be tried in Great Britain or other colonies, while
the Quartering Act required colonists to provide housing for British soldiers.
the fifth act, the Quebec Act, enlarged the boundaries of Quebec and instituted reforms favorable to its French Catholic inhabitants.
Although the Quebec Act was unrelated to the Boston Tea Party, its passage at the same time contributed to colonial anger.
Rather than isolating Massachusetts, these acts unified the American colonies and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
