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The British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act in 1774. It closed the town’s harbor until the American colonists paid a fine for destroying British goods. The act’s purpose was to punish the rebellious behavior of the colonists who participated in the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773. At that time a group of colonists boarded British ships and dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest a British tea tax.

The Boston Port Act was one of several laws that Parliament passed during the spring of 1774. Together four of these laws are called the Intolerable, or Coercive, Acts. These laws, which the colonists considered unjust, helped lead to the American Revolution.

Parliament viewed Massachusetts, and Boston in particular, as the center of colonial hostility and rebellion against Great Britain. By issuing the Boston Port Act, Parliament hoped to isolate Massachusetts from the other colonies. However, the other colonies condemned Parliament’s acts and supported Massachusetts and its citizens. Acting as a unified force, the colonies held the First Continental Congress on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia. Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia attended to voice opposition to Parliament’s actions. The Continental Congress went on to issue the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.

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