During March, May, and June of 1774 the five Intolerable Acts were passed by the British parliament. The Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre led to these new laws. The first act, Boston Port Act was passed on March 31, 1774. With this new law, the ports in Boston were closed. Once all the ruined tea was paid for the ports would open, but until then the ports stayed closed. Closing the ports caused more of an outrage among the colonies. To insure that no one traveled through the ports armed warships created a blockade. British troops filled Boston to patrol the wharfs. If a colonist violated the laws they would be heavily fined. The second act which was known as the Massachusetts Government Act was passed on May 20, 1774. The Massachusetts
