Quartering Acts - Quartering in Time of War

Quartering in Time of War

During the French and Indian War Britain had forcibly seized quarters in private dwellings. In the American Revolutionary War, the New York Provincial Congress barracked Continental Army troops in private homes. The Americans strongly opposed the quartering of British troops in their homes because the British Parliament had created the Mutiny Act under which the British army was supposed to be prohibited against quartering troops in private homes of citizens against their will. Although Parliament said that these laws were in effect in 1723, 1754, and 1756 the colonies did not get the benefit of these laws till after they acquired their freedom after the war. Because of this violation of their constitutional rights the colonies believed that liberty itself would be destroyed. Along with the fear of a loss of liberty, the colonists felt that the British army should be subordinate to civil authority since Parliament already stated that the army couldn’t force quartering through the Mutiny Act.

With the growing worries of illegal quartering by the British, the Pennsylvania Assembly met and denied any quartering bill that guaranteed citizens could deny soldiers to stay in private homes. When the Assembly finally passed the quartering bill, the passage stating how soldiers could or could not be quartered in homes was omitted and it only outlined how the soldiers were to be quartered in public houses. That winter’s harshening conditions led the British commander, Col. Henry Bouquet, to order the colonists to quarter his troops in other laces than just private homes. Bouquet felt his troops couldn’t survive the winter without better living conditions. Bouquet wrote a letter to the governor of Pennsylvania telling him to issue a warrant to allow the quartering of his troops in private homes. The governor issued the warrant but left it blank instead of directly listing what Col. Bouquet could or could not do. The Pennsylvania Assembly was outraged when they learned what their governor had done. But instead asking for a veto on the warrant they asked for a review on how many troops could be quartered in a single home at a time. But the only response they received was that the king’s troops must and will be quartered. In response to this the Assembly met on a Sunday for the first time. Here they wrote a letter to the governor asking why their constitutional rights were being violated when The British Parliament laws favored the colonists.

In response to what was happening to the colonists, Benjamin Franklin opened up an Assembly meeting suggesting that soldiers could be quartered in public houses in the suburbs. This meant instead of the troops be directly in the city they would be in houses on the outskirts of the city on farms where they could potentially have more space. Governor Denny attended this Pennsylvania meeting and bluntly answered that the commander in chief had requested quartering for the troops in Philadelphia and if anybody had a problem with this then they should talk to Lord Loudoun. The committeemen brought to light that they felt Denny was siding with the British military when instead as governor he should work to protect the constitutional rights of the colonists. The ongoing quarrel between State Assembly, governor, and Lord Loudoun wasn’t a dispute between legislature and executive powers; but a contest for political liberty. The colonists had the same rights through British Parliament laws but they were not granted to them and instead threatened by bayonets for personal gain.

In Albany, New York the mayor had allocated $1,000 for the building of barracks for Loudoun’s troops, but the barracks not built when the troops arrived. The mayor told Loudoun that he knew his constitiutional rights and refused to let the troops be quartered in Albany. When the mayor stayed adamant on his beliefs of not allowing the troops to be quartered, Loudoun had them forcefully apply themselves in private homes.

In an early August committee meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, the governor was able to get the committee to pass a bill to grant money for the building of barracks. These barracks would accommodate up to one thousand troops. The barracks were built and all that had to be done was convince Loudoun to obey the constitutional procedures set by parliament. Everything went smoothly until two recruiting officers complained to governor Pawnall of Massachusetts that they were denied quarters in Boston. The response was that it was illegal to quarter in private homes in Boston and the committeemen suggested that they stay at the newly built barracks at Castle William. The timing of this new meeting Lord Loundoun was extremely unfortunate. He was currently suffering losses in northern New York while trying to hold off the French and Indians. When he heard of what happened with the committeemen he argued that the current military crisis made it ok to quarter troops in private homes. A bill was then brought to the governor to sign that said troops could be quartered in homes but innkeepers had the right to complain to a judge if they felt too many soldiers were there. Loudon was enraged with this and threatened to force troops upon civilians again. By the end of December, the Massachusetts legislature was able to get Loudoun to agree to quarter his troops at Castle William, which meant through the long process the colonists, were able to uphold their constitutional rights..

On May 3, 1765 the British Parliament met and finally passed a Quartering Act for the Americans. The act stated that troops could only be quartered in barracks and if there wasn’t enough space in barracks then they were to be quartered in public houses and inns. If still not enough space then the governor and council were to find vacant space but at no time was it legal to quarter troops in private homes..