The Quartering Act

Quartering Act

What is the Quartering Act?
The Quartering Act of 1765 was intended to help the British defray the cost of maintaining troops in America.  The Act required that the colonists had to supply British troops with food,munitions and barracks.  The Act was bitterly resented by the Americans, particularly because the troops were used to enforce Parliament’s new tax policies in the colonies; the negative effect this had on American sentiment toward the British was profound: “The use of the army in civil affairs convinced many Americans that they would be governed by military force unless they met force with force to maintain the liberties they insisted were rightfully theirs”.
The Quartering Act was an act passed by British Parliament to ensure that British soldiers would be properly billeted and fed during their times of service in the North American Colonies In fact, Parliament passed two separate Quartering Acts, one in1765 and another in 1774, and both became serious bones of contention among the Colonists. In fact, the Quartering Actwas found so offensive that specific references were made to it in the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.