May 20, 1774

Parliament Passes Two More Coercive Acts

Parliament passes the Massachusetts Government Act and the Administration of Justice Act, which attacked two fundamental constitutional rights: legislative representation and jury trials. The Massachusetts Government Act revokes the colony's 1691 charter and severely restricts the activities of the town meetings. The Administration of Justice Act leaves it to the governor, with the consent of the council, to decide whether to send anyone accused of a crime to be tried "in some other of his Majesty's colonies, or in Great Britain."