The Intolerable Acts were Great Britain's way of punishing the city of Boston, after it refuses to follow the
Stamp Act, the
Quartering Act, and the
Tea Act.
The Tea Act of 1773 was expected to lower the price of tea with the elimination of middlemen's profits and company taxes. It was hoped that this would encourage the Americans to purchase more tea and put the East India Company back on its feet.
After it was very apparant that Lord North had strongly misjudged the colonists, he lost ground with the colonists. Tea merchants in America had been left without competitive prices. When the first new shipment of tea came from London to Boston, the angry colonists would not let it dock, and sent it back to Britain.
Lord North then decided he needed to show the colonies once and for all who had the upper hand by passing what the Americans call these "Intolerable Acts", listed below.
The Massachusetts Government Act:
This law altered the constitution given in the charter of 1691. This proclaimed that the governer's council would be appointed by the king, rather than elected by the colony's legislature.
The Administration of Justice Act:
It was also said that any government or customs officer indicted for murder could be tried in England, rather than being sent to the local colonial juries.
The New Quartering Act:
This new revision on the old Quartering Act of 1765 said that British troops were authorized to stay anywhere inside the town where their commander thought fit. In the past, they were only to stay in a barracks provided by the townspeople.
These acts were promptly followed by the Quebec Act, and forced the colonists to arrange the First Continental Congress.