Today in History: The Quartering Act

On this day (March 24) in 1765, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act which became one of the Intolerable Acts that helped to spark the American Revolution. The “need” for the Act came out of the French and Indian war (1754-1763) in which British forces needed to be fed and quartered while fighting the war and the colonial governments were often slow to provide such quartering. In response, the British authorities took over private homes, forcing the owners to feed and house soldiers. This was illegal, but in the midst of the war the British generals frankly didn’t care about legalities.

After the war, the British government decided to leave troops in the colonies and demanded that the colonial governments pay for them. The colonies understandably asked why a standing army was needed in the American colonies now that the French threat was gone. Most refused to cooperate, leading to the Quartering Act that once again put the burden of supporting British troops on private citizens.