Wake Wednesday 250: 1774, A Year of Intolerable Acts

The year 1774 opened to increasing divisiveness between British Parliament and the colonists. Resentment and hostilities were fomenting on both sides. The King and Parliament were insensed by Massachusetts colonists' revolt - the Boston Tea party - in December of 1773.

Another round of opressive measures were enacted directed at quelling rebellion and stripping govenment powers at a local provincial level. Britain was laser focused on Massachusetts, but their fury and strident restrictions sent a shudder through out all the thirteen colonies. The colonists' unease harkened back to the days of the 1760s between the French & Indian War and the Regulator movement.

Over the course of that year, the British enacted no less than five new acts, collectively called the Coercive Acts. The Acts were the most punitive and restrictive thus far. Their oppressive nature lead the colonists to call them "Intolerable" instead. While these acts specifically singled out Massachusetts, they were designed to tighten imperial control over all the American colonies. Colonists in all provinces felt that Britain wanted to strip away their rights and govern them by force.

This summary of the new laws brought forth in 1774 illustrates just how enraged and vindictive Britain was at this point.

Bostonians in Distress
Source

The Intolerable Acts of 1774 (aka The Coervcive Acts)

The Boston Port Act (March 31) was enacted directly and specifically to punish Boston and Massechusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Port of Boston was closed and was to remain so until the damaged tea was paid for. The colonists refused. The port economy was shuttered from June 1, 1774 until early in 1776. This resulted in dire ecomonic consequences as much of the port city's commerce was tied to import and exports to Britain and other places.

The Massachusetts Government Act (May 20) stripped much of Massachusetts' self-government and put the control in the hand of the Royal Governor, Thomas Gage. Limits were imposed on town meeting. Local government officials were replaced and their replacements were appointed by the Royal Governor rather than elected by peers.

The Administration of Justice Act (May 20) gave British official accused of crimes in Massachusetts the option to have their trials moved outside the colony and have them tried in Britain instead. Yes, back home where their buddies were. Frustrated colonists referred to this one as "the Murder Act." The consensus was that the royal appointees could get away with murder now that there was less local accountability.

The Quartering Act (June 2) made provisions for a standing British army to be housed in the colonies thus allowing for ready enforcement should the colonists show the inclination to revolt again.

The Quebec Act (June 22) was not a punishment per se (and technically not one of the Coercive Acts), but the colonists reacted to it in the same way and saw it as just as intrusive to their liberties as the others. Britain's efforts to reorganize Quebec’s government, protect Catholic worship, and secure control of the region did not sit well. The colonists saw this move as Catholic favoritism, more overreach of royal power, and another attempt to block settlement into the less populated and more fertile lands to the west.

Reactions

The other colonies were watching and listening. They were shocked by what had come to pass. They sent aid and support to Boston. They feared the attack on representative government and their own personal liberty. They expected more corruption and feared the British officials would use the Justice act to escape punishment by counting on the good graces of their cronies back home. The specter of a perpetually standing army was another intrusion on their liberty and self determination. They could not even move farther west to be left alone in the back country as they had in the past. They responded with further resistance. They boycotted British goods. They engaged in provincial political organizing.

Provincial NC fit this pattern of thinking perfectly. Her reaction was less about one single dramatic event and more about a rapid move toward unity, boycott, and extra-legal colonial government in response to the sense that Parliament could punish any colony the way it punished Massachusetts.

We will look to the early NC hamlets of Halifax, and Mecklenburg as examples of what changes the Intolerable Acts had set in motion in next in the next post.

Explore More:

The Intolerable Acts: When British Punishment Pushed America Toward Revolution

The Colonial Responses to the Intolerable Acts

The Intolerable Acts | How Did the British React to the Boston Tea Party?

In the common cause: American response to the Coercive acts of 1774 by Ammerman, David. University Press of Virginia. 1974. Access through Internet Archive. Link

Wake Wednesday - Slave Narratives in the Wake Treasures Journal Archive

A selection of the slave narratives relevant to Wake County were transcribed as noted below. The Wake Treasures Journal Archives are currently free to all to view. Note that historical materials often include viewpoints, language, norms, and values of the original creators that may be harmful to our sensibilities today. There is language here that some may wish to skip. The words of the original speakers were preserved as originally expressed.* SLAVE NARRATIVES – A FOLK HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE US, FROM INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER SLAVES Transcribed by Jerry J. Lewis NORTH CAROLINA NARRATIVES, Pt. 1, Vol. 14, NC District #2. This can be found in the North Carolina State Library. This was a project of the Works Progress Administration in 1937. These narratives were can be found in Vol 8.2 (starting p. 57 ) and Vol 9.1 (starting p. 59 ) The narratives include accounts from former enslaved persons who lived in Raleigh at the time of the WPA survey. Many were enslaved in Wake County...

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