1774

1774 was a year marked by escalating tensions between Great Britain and its North American colonies, setting the stage for the American Revolutionary War. In March, Parliament enacted the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party. The measures included the Boston Port Act and Massachusetts Government Act, broadened royal authority over colonial governance, and allowed the housing of British troops in colonial settlements under the Quartering Act. In the same year, Parliament passed the Quebec Act, which extended the boundaries of Quebec and confirmed the rights of the Catholic Church in the province; the act was seen in the colonies as an encroachment on western lands and self-government.

In September, representatives from twelve colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. Convened to coordinate responses to the Coercive Acts, the congress adopted the Continental Association, a comprehensive non-importation and non-exportation agreement aimed at pressuring Britain economically. It also drafted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and urged the colonies to prepare for defensive measures while seeking resolution through petition to the Crown.

The events of 1774 contributed to a growing sense of colonial unity and resistance. The formation of the Continental Congress and the Continental Association, alongside the punitive parliamentary measures, helped solidify a collective American stance that would soon culminate in the outbreak of armed conflict in 1775.