Short Summary: The Quartering Act

Soon the Quartering Act was passed, directing the colonies to provide quarters for British soldiers. Americans found this oppressive because it meant that soldiers were placed in colonial homes. In 1764 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, putting a duty on most printed materials. This was a normal tax for the British as it had been going on in Britain for a long time, and it made sense that the rest of their empire would pay the same tax. This placed a burden on merchants and the colonial elite who did most legal transactions and read the newspapers. Also passed in the same year was the Declaratory Act, which stated that the colonies were subject to the will of Parliament. This made a lot of sense to the British, as Parliament was their ruling body, but, to the colonies who had become used to their own government during the years of salutory neglect, this was a direct threat to their way of life.

The Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act, lowered the taxes on molasses but also it had more ways to enforce the tax. In addition to the tax on molasses they taxed things such as silks, wines, and potash. The Americans were outraged with this new law. The colonists did whatever they could to ignore this new law. The British passed the Quartering Act which basically said that the American colonists have to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America. This inflamed the

As stated by Thomas Riggs “From the time the British soldiers arrived in Boston, animosity between the military and the town's citizens was evident. Soldiers broke into private shops and stole goods.” This shows how the British soldiers treated the colonists terribly and with disrespect. Along with the act that the colonists had to pay more taxes for goods. The colonists also had to feed, house, and put up with the soldier’s rudeness. This pushed the colonists to their limit and caused them to revolt. That is how the Quartering act and taxes from Parliament is partial to why the British are to blame.

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

This document countered many of the other documents that were instated as colonial law by the British. One such example would be the Quartering Act, which allowed British soldiers positioned within the colonies to be allowed in the homes of any colonist. Acts

On March 24, 1765, The British Parliament passed the Quartering Act which decided the dedication of the American leaders to outfit British troops with safe house and acquisitions. Despite the fact that there was some yearning to secure their far-away subjects, the expense of doing as such was measuring intensely on the saddled to-handle British open. Somebody needed to pay to bring home the veterans from the French-Indian War and furnish them with benefits. Authorities in Britain could see no motivation behind why that the American homesteaders ought not to tolerate the brunt of the expense. The British likewise settled a leading group of traditions chiefs, whose intention was to stop frontier sneaking and the uncontrolled debasement of neighborhood authorities who were frequently complicit in such unlawful exchange. The board was entirely successful, especially in Boston, its seat. As the blacklist spread, badgering of

The Quartering Act was proclaimed in 1765. The act allowed the British soldiers to live in colonist’s houses. It also allowed soldiers to eat and drink colonists’ food. The goal of the act was to keep the uprising of rebels at a low by catching them when the troops moved in, or by overhearing conversations.

These acts then led to the long string of others given out by King. In 1765, Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which required colonists to provide barracks and supplies to British soldier and also the Stamp Act that required stamps to be placed on paper products such as playing cards, pamphlets, almanacs, and newspapers. Unlike the acts before it, the Stamp Act was a direct tax on the colonies and made many believe "the passage of it was not merely an impolitic and unjust law that threatened the priceless right of the individual to retain possession of his property until he or his chosen representative voluntarily gave it up to another; it was to many, also, a danger signal indicating that a more general threat existed" [3]

In 1766, about 1,500 British soldiers disembarked at New York City. By law, the city had to cover the costs of housing and provisioning the soldiers. This was stated in the Quartering Act of 1765, which dictated that the colonies had to accommodate the British military personnel in local barracks, stables, inns, and uninhabited houses if necessary. At the beginning, this law did not strike any chords with the colonists, but when the New York Provincial Assembly realized the high cost involved, they assumed it as another attempt by the Crown to collect revenue from them. The saying “no taxation without representation” was used again as a type of trigger again and the city refused to cover the accommodation expenses.

In response to the events of the Boston Tea Party, the British parliament passed a series of laws called the Intolerable (Coercive) Acts in 1774. These Acts were: the ‘Boston Port Act’, closing down all trade of Massachusetts; the ‘Massachusetts Government Act’, Massachusetts was no longer allowed to govern themselves; the ‘Administration of Justice Act’, any person charged with murder while trying to enforce the law would be tried in England; and the ‘Quartering Act’, allowing British troops to be housed in

We had soldiers placed in our homes as part of the Intolerance Acts. We were punished for dumping tea into Boston Harbor. “An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters…” forces us to house and provide resources for soldiers. That mutiny being us throwing tea into the harbor in rebellion for the cruel monopolization and taxation of all tea we purchase. The so-called Quartering Act placing soldiers in our homes was decided upon none other than “...the present session of parliament…” that we are not represented in.

By 1765, at a Stamp Act Congress, all but four colonies were represented as the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” was passed. They were determined to let Parliament know that they were equal to British citizens, that there would be no “taxation without representation,” and all efforts to stop tax on colonists would continue (Kennedy, etal 2011.) Although Lord Rockingham, the predecessor of Grenville, sought to repeal of the Stamp Act, this in no way meant Parliament was conceding their control. In fact, while the Stamp Act was repealed, another called the “Declaratory Act of 1766,” gave Parliament the authority to make laws binding the American Colonies, “in all cases whatsoever.” In 1767, George III passed the Townshend Acts to collect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and, tea. Recognizing that tea was a favorite among the Americans, it ensured greater revenue the British government. Again, the colonists’ rights for representation were ignored and they started to boycott British goods and ultimately, smuggle tea. When the Quartering Act was passed, which specified that colonists were to give room and board to British troops, tension began to rise. For two years, the colonists tolerated British troops on their soil and their dissatisfaction with the British Parliament and King George III became evident through many violent riots, abusiveness of tax collectors and destruction of property. According to Kennedy, etal (2011), Parliament, continually met with

punishment of the New York legislature for the failure to satisfy all of the requirements of the Quartering Act. Bostonians were devastated as they received the first whiff of the Act and Boston became divided and weary of the situation. Twelve Letters approached by a farmer were complaints of the legislation unconstitutional rights. The Townshend program reasserted Britain’s sovereignty over its American colonies.

There is also The Quartering Act. This made the colonists provide the soldiers with food and also many other supplies or goods. My fellow colonists protested angrily. We complained about how The Quartering Act violated our rights.

The British government’s legislation to increase revenue continued beyond the Revenue and Currency Acts. In 1765 the Quartering Act and Stamp Act were enacted. The Quartering Act required colonists to house troops who were stationed in their vicinity. The British reasoned that this would help with the cost of keeping British troops in America. To further boost England’s suffering economy, the Stamp Act was made effective putting tax on paper goods such as legal documents, newspapers, almanacs, playing cards, college diplomas, etc. Violators of the Stamp Act, like the Revenue Act, were tried in admiralty courts.