Quartering Act

In response to Gage’s request and in an attempt to have control of the colonies again, the British Parliament passed the Quartering Act of 1765. Given Royal Assent on March 24, 1765, this Act gave Great Britain the right to quarter troops in barracks and public houses in the colonies. Meaning that normal colonist would have to shelter troops in their homes until told not to do so. The requirement followed the original Mutiny Act of 1765 but the overall Quartering Act went beyond the original Act requirements. Under the new Act, if more British troops required housing than was available in barracks and public houses, the troops could be housed in a variety of additional locations such as inns, ale houses, private homes of those who sold wine or alcohol and livery stables. If the number of troops exceeded the additional locations, provisions were included to house soldiers in any abandoned homes or outbuildings such as barns or outhouses. Finally, the Act required colonial governments to take care of the costs that included with quartering British troops, including food and shelter.

The first Quartering Act resulted in a chaos in New York when the local government initially did not want to quarter arriving British troops. In 1776, troops had to remain on board of their ships because the local government opposed to provide housing for them. After a colonist following the local government’s refusal to provide accommodation, the British Parliament with-drawled New York’s local legislature. This suspension never took effect, since the local Assembly agreed to fund the housing of troops. Other colonies avoided the Act by various methods until it completely ended in 1767.

Both Quartering Acts served to increase tensions between the American colonies and the British government. Requirements to house and provision troops, even during peacetime, proved to be a significant source of disagreement between the emerging colonial independence and the British government.