For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

These lines refer to what came to be called "The Intolerable Acts," passed by Parliament partly in response to the "Boston Tea Party" (December 16, 1773). In 1774, the British government decided that it was not possible to single out for punishment the participants in the Tea Party. Instead, a series of punitive actions was taken against the town of Boston and the entire colony of Massachusetts Bay. There were five acts:

1) The Boston Port Act closed the port of Boston beginning June 1, 1774, until the East India Company had been repaid for the losses it had suffered as a result of the Tea Party; this act in effect declared a military blockade of Boston.

2) The Administration of Justice Act empowered the Massachusetts governor to transfer either to Britain or to another colony for trial any official or soldier accused of a capital crime committed in the line of duty who could not expect a fair trial in Massachusetts.

3) The Massachusetts Government Act nullified and altered the Massachusetts Charter in several ways, by stipulating, among other things, that the Council would thenceforth be appointed by the Crown rather than elected by the House of Representatives, and that town meetings could not be held without the prior written approval of the governor.

4) The Quartering Act authorized every colonial governor under certain conditions to lodge troops in private establishments; this act showed that the British government intended to act firmly, very likely with force, to suppress American self-government.

5) The Quebec Act reversed previous colonial policy by depriving inhabitants of Quebec of representation in government; this act also declared that the Roman Catholic religion was to be given the support of government in the exercise of its "accustomed dues and rights," meaning that Catholics would be taxed to support the Catholic clergy. Americans viewed this act as a cynical British attempt to buy the loyalty of Catholic priests so that they would not protest its abolition of republican government in Canada. A particularly alarming feature of the Quebec Act was that it extended the territory of Quebec far southward, to include the vast region that eventually became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. It appeared that the British plan was to abolish free government within the colonies, starting with Canada, and to prevent the westward expansion of the colonies by peopling the western region with docile Catholics who would willingly submit to despotic government of Britain and their priests.

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