History of South America

How did the colonists feel about coercive act?

The colonists were outraged by the Coercive Acts, which they saw as a violation of their rights as British subjects. They felt that the British Parliament had no right to impose such harsh measures on them without their consent. The Coercive Acts also seemed to be a direct attack on the Massachusetts colony, which had been a vocal critic of British policies.

The colonists responded to the Coercive Acts by organizing protests, petitions, and boycotts. They also began to form militias to defend themselves in the event of a British attack. The Coercive Acts only served to further inflame tensions between the colonists and the British government, and they played a major role in leading up to the American Revolution.

Here are some specific examples of how the colonists reacted to the Coercive Acts:

- In Boston, the citizens held a mass meeting on May 13, 1774, to protest the acts. They passed a series of resolutions, including a call for a boycott of British goods.

- The Virginia House of Burgesses passed a resolution on May 25, 1774, denouncing the acts as "unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional."

- The Massachusetts Provincial Congress met in October 1774 and passed a resolution declaring the Coercive Acts to be "void and of no effect."

- The colonists also began to organize militias to defend themselves in the event of a British attack. In April 1775, the British sent troops to Concord and Lexington to seize a cache of weapons that the colonists had stored there. This led to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

The Coercive Acts were a major turning point in the relationship between the colonists and the British government. They showed the colonists that the British were willing to use force to maintain their control over the colonies, and they convinced many colonists that their only option was to fight for their independence.