The Migrant Invasion of 2024, part 1/3

^{A two-part series on the clear parallels between the USA migrant invasion of 2024 and the friction caused by the Quartering Act of 1774. This friction became the fuel for the rebellion of 1776.}

Why Is Today’s Migrant Invasion So Intolerable?

To understand this, let’s go back in history exactly 250 years.

In 1774 a frustrated and angry British Parliament passed “The Intolerable Acts” in an attempt to reassert control of the American colonies which had grown increasingly unruly and rebellious.

These four Intolerable Acts were:

1. The Boston Port Bill closed Boston Harbor to all trade both in and out.

2. The Massachusetts Government Act removed the locally elected government and placed a British-appointed governor in its place, increased the military powers of the new governor, allowed the new governor to single-handedly appoint his own sheriffs and call his own jurors, and prohibited town meetings without permission.

3. The Administration of Justice Act allowed British officials accused of crimes to be tried in other colonies or Britain rather than the location where the crime was committed.

4. The New Quartering Act allowed the British troops to take control of buildings, public houses, and inns, etc. to house their troops.

These “Coercive Acts” (as Britain called them) were so intolerable to the colonists, that it ultimately led them to say, “Enough is enough!”, to declare independence, and embark on the American Revolution.

The Lead-Up To The Intolerable Acts

In 1765 the Stamp Act was imposed on the Colonists. The distasteful aspect of this Act was that it was a direct tax on the colonies and paid to the Crown, not to their local representative government.

A stamp (read: tax) was needed to validate every official document and many various forms of papers, documents, playing cards, etc.

The first Quartering Act was also implemented in 1765 during the French and Indian War to house and pay for all of the troops stationed in the American colonies.

It allowed British troops to commandeer empty buildings, barracks, public houses, inns, etc., and made the local legislatures responsible for paying for the feeding and accommodations of the uninvited British troops.

However, forcing the locals to pay the expenses of their oppressors was truly unpopular.

The Boston Massacre of 1770.

The first Quartering Act of 1765 was illegal, but it granted the appointed governors authority to dictate where to house the British soldiers.

Friction intensified as the British prepared to move 2,800+ British troops to Boston (which only had a population of ~16,000).

Tensions came to a head when some of those British troops, housed downtown in Boston Commons, fired into a rowdy and antagonistic crowd, killed five people, and wounded six.

The Boston Tea Party

As Britain sought to regain control and increase taxes on the colonies, the Bostonians could take it no more.

They protested some of these import taxes by throwing thousands of pounds of British tea into Boston Harbor infuriating the Crown!

Coerce Those Locals Into Submission!

In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed the “Coercive Acts” of 1774 (labeled the “Intolerable Acts” by the colonists) and prepared to send thousands of British troops to Boston to squash the rebellion.

Importantly, the Quartering Act applied to all the colonies (not only to Massachusettes) leaving the other colonies wondering what more was in store for them.

Instead of squashing the rebellious Bostonians, these punitive Intolerable Acts served as the spark that ignited the colonists’ anger enough to convene the First Continental Congress in the Fall of 1774 (which was held in Philadelphia, of course, since the gathering was not allowed in Boston).

To be continued in part two…

Watch for part two to see how all this history relates to the migrant crisis of 2024.