The dumping of the tea in the harbor was the most destructive
act that the colonists had taken against Britain thus far. The previous rioting
and looting of British officials’ houses over the Stamp Act had
been minor compared to the thousands of pounds in damages to the
ships and tea. Governor Hutchinson, angered by the colonists’ disregard
for authority and disrespect for property, left for England. The
“tea party” was a bold and daring step forward on the road to outright
revolution.
The Intolerable Acts
The Tea Party had mixed results: some Americans
hailed the Bostonians as heroes, while others condemned them as
radicals. Parliament, very displeased, passed the Coercive
Acts in 1774 in
a punitive effort to restore order. Colonists quickly renamed these
acts the Intolerable Acts.
Numbered among these Intolerable Acts was the Boston
Port Bill, which closed Boston Harbor to all ships until
Bostonians had repaid the British East India Company for damages.
The acts also restricted public assemblies and suspended many civil
liberties. Strict new provisions were also made for housing British
troops in American homes, reviving the indignation created by the
earlier Quartering Act, which had been allowed to expire
in 1770. Public sympathy for Boston erupted
throughout the colonies, and many neighboring towns sent food and
supplies to the blockaded city.
The Quebec Act
At the same time the Coercive Acts were put into effect,
Parliament also passed the Quebec Act. This act granted
more freedoms to Canadian Catholics and extended Quebec’s territorial
claims to meet the western frontier of the American colonies.
