The Restraining Acts of early 1775 were two

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

passed by the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

, which limited colonial trade in response to both increasing and spreading civil disobedience in Massachusetts and New England, and similar trade restrictions instituted by elected colonial representatives. With time the foment would spread to most of its

American Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

. The first restraining act, (15 Geo. III c. 10) known variously as the New England Trade And Fisheries Act, the New England Restraining Act, or the Trade Act 1775 (c.10), limited the export and import of any goods to and from only Great Britain, Ireland, and the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

; it also prohibited the New England colonies from fishing in the waters off

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and most of America's Atlantic coast, without special permissions and documentation, and imposed stiff penalties on both perpetrators and administrators if violations occurred. Previously legal or finessed trade between the colonies themselves or with other nations was prohibited, and enforced by naval blockade, effective July 1, 1775. The second restraining act, (15 Geo. III c. 18) known as the Trade Act 1775 (c.18), similarly limited the export or import of any goods by way of only Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West Indies for most colonies south of New England; it was passed shortly after the first, upon receiving news in April that the colonial's trade boycott had spread widely among other colonies. Only New York, Delaware, North Carolina and Georgia would escape these restraints on trade, but only for a few months. The Restraining Acts were passed one year after the first of the

Intolerable Acts The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measur ...

had been imposed to show the potential of tighter British sovereignty over Boston, Massachusetts, and threatened the same treatment in other colonies generally. Instead of quieting the populace, these coercive laws had been met with increasing resistance and rising resentment among the colonials. Over this same period the colonies established independent communications, and the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Nav ...

established the colonial's boycott to restrain the import of British goods then the export of colonial products, which caused disruption in British trade and revenues and shortages in the colonies themselves. Additionally, the colonies had established alternative legislatures in defiance of established ones under direct imperial control. The growing defiance caused a mutual scramble for munitions and treasonous acts to obtain them, indicating that more violence was on the horizon. News arriving about the first restraining act, and related actions of the Massachusetts military governor would lead directly to the first military confrontation in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. With fighting started, any possible reconciliation became moot, and the King would issue his Royal

Proclamation of Rebellion The Proclamation of Rebellion, officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition, was the response of George III to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the outset of the American Revolution. Issued on 23 August 1775, ...

in August. In December 1775 Parliament passed the

Prohibitory Act The Prohibitory Act was British legislation in late 1775 that cut off all trade between the Thirteen Colonies and England and removed the colonies from the King's protection. In essence, it was a declaration of economic warfare by Britain as puni ...

prohibiting any trade with all the colonies, and enforcing it with a tighter blockade and more severe penalties; it was a declaration of economic war, with inbound or outbound ships, mariners and cargoes treated as if they "were the ships and effects of open enemies ... o beso adjudged, deemed, and taken, in all courts." With this drastic change in British tactics, effective January 1, 1776, the two Restraining Acts as well as the

Boston Port Act The Boston Port Act, also called the Trade Act 1774, was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which became law on March 31, 1774, and took effect on June 1, 1774. It was one of five measures (variously called the ''Intole ...

were repealed, "whereas the prohibitions and restraints imposed by the said acts will be rendered unnecessary by the provisions of this act."

Rebellion proclaimed

The

province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

was in a state of crisis following the passage of the

Coercive Acts The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure ...

in 1774. When colonists formed the extra-legal Massachusetts Provincial Congress and began organizing militia units independent of British control, Parliament responded on February 9, 1775, by declaring that Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion. The joint resolution of Parliament read, in part: One of the Coercive Acts, the

, had cut off Boston's trade; this blockade was now extended to all of Massachusetts.

New England Restraining Act

The

North ministry Frederick North, Lord North was appointed to lead the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain by King George III from 1770 to 1782. His ministry oversaw the Falklands Crisis of 1770, the 1780 Gordon Riots and the outbreak of the American Wa ...

next turned its attention to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

generally. The New England Restraining Act (

short title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. T ...

: New England Trade And Fisheries Act, 15 Geo. III c. 10)This act also has been variously cited as 15 Geo. III c. 31, the Newfoundland Fisheries Act 1775, also known as Palliser's Act, and named for Hugh Palliser. This act was passed later in the same session of Parliament, the 31st act; section 12 of this act closed a documented loophole which had previously allowed immigration to the continent, and made it illegal and punishable by a fine. was the ministry's response to the American colonies' decision to boycott British goods, as embodied in the

Continental Association The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against B ...

of 1774. It was given

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

on March 30, 1775. The Act provided that New England's trade be limited to Britain and the

(trade with other nations was prohibited, effective July 1, 1775). Moreover, New England ships were barred from the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

fisheries (a measure that pleased British Canadians, but threatened considerable harm to New England's economy), effective July 20, 1775.

Restraining Act extended

In April 1775, after news was received in London that colonies outside of New England had joined the Continental Association, a second restraining Act was passed to include the colonies of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. New York, Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia were not included because the

mistakenly believed that those colonies were opposed to the colonial boycott.

Notes

References

*Cogliano, Francis D. ''Revolutionary America, 1763–1815: A Political History''. Routledge, 1999. *Jensen, Merrill. ''The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.

External links

Text of the New England Restraining ActText of the Southern Colonies Restraining Act
{{UK legislation Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1775 1775 in the Thirteen Colonies History of New England British laws relating to the American Revolution