The Intolerable Acts (1774) to
the Battles of Lexington and
Concord (April, 1775)
Reaction to the Tea Party: Lord North
• Frederick North,
Lord North
• British Prime
Minister, 1770 1782
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts
• The Boston Port Act (March 31, 1774)
• The Massachusetts Government Act (May 20,
1774)
• Administration of Justice Act (May 20, 1774)
• The Quartering Act (June 2, 1774)
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
• MP from 1765
• Sympathetic to the
Americans
• Supported free trade,
criticised capital
punishment
• Critical of French
Revolution
• Strong influence on
Conservative politics
Committees of Correspondence
Committees of Correspondence
• Boston Committee of Correspondence
established in 1772 by Samuel Adams
• Increase communication; sustain morale and
energy; co-ordinate action
• Inspired other committees through
Massachusetts and the other colonies
Circular Letter
• Boston Committee of Correspondence; May
13, 1774
The First Continental Congress,
September 5, 1774
The First Continental Congress,
September 5, 1774
- Delegates appointed by each colonial
legislature
- absolute ban on importation of British goods
- Threat to cease exporting goods to Britain if
the Intolerable Acts were not repealed
- Petitioned King George
- Agreed to convene a Second Continental
Congress in May, 1775
Declaration and Resolves of the First
Continental Congress, October 14,
1774
Instructions to petition the King
Petition to the King, October 26, 1774
Provisional Act Fails, February 1, 1775
Provisional Act Fails, February 1, 1775
• Chatham (William
Pitt, 1st Earl of
Chatham
• Pitt the Elder
• PM: 1766 – 1768
• Dominated House of
Commons
• Whig
• Champion of Empire
1774/5: Shadow government
develops in Massachusetts
Battles of Lexington and Concord,
April 19, 1775