The Massachusetts Government Act (citation 14 Geo. III c. 45) was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain and became a law on May 20, 1774. The Act is one of the Intolerable Acts, the Punitive Acts, or the Coercive Acts, designed to secure Britain's jurisdiction over its American dominions. This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that bodys existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707. ... This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that bodys existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707. ... This is a list of Acts of and Ordinances of the Parliament of England during the Interregnum between the English Civil War and The Restoration of King Charles II. None of these Acts and Ordinances were considered valid after the Restoration due to their lack of Royal Assent. ... This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that bodys existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707. ... This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that bodys existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707. ... This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the Scottish Parliament. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland for the years up to 1700. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland for the years 1701 to 1800. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1707-1719. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1720-1739. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1740-1759. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1760-1779. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1780-1800. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1801-1819. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1820-1839. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1840-1859. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1860-1879. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1880-1899. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1900-1919. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1920-1939. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1940-1959. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1960-1979. ... This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1980-1999. ... This is an list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 2000 to the present. ... This is a list of Acts of the Scottish Parliament. ... This is a list of Acts passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. ... This is a list of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly passed by that body during its existence between 2000 and 2002 when it was suspended. ... The is a list of Orders in Council for Northern Ireland which are primary legislation for the province when the it is being directly ruled from London and also for those powers not devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Statutory Instruments (SIs) are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... The Intolerable Acts, called by the British the Coercive Acts or Punitive Acts, were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 in response to the growing unrest in thirteen American colonies, particularly in Boston, Massachusetts after incidents such as the Boston Tea Party. ... In law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak) is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area... Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. ...

The act did away with elections for the councilors and assistants in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, making the positions appointive, the appointments to be made by "his Majesty's commission, under the great seal of Great Britain", the positions to be held "during the pleasure of his Majesty". This left the colonists helpless against patronage and corruption. Before the creation of "the Act", the Council possessed the power to veto or nominate officials. A map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ... Generally, patronage is the act of a so-called patron who supports or favors some individual, family, group or institution. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

It also provided that his Majesty's governor would appoint "all judges of the inferior courts of common pleas, commissioners of oyer and terminer, the attorney general, provosts, marshals, justices of the peace, and other officers to the council or courts of justice belong", and "every vacancy of the offices of chief justice and judges of the superior court of the said province, from and after July 1, 1774". Members of the Council had been elected annually by a joint committee chosen by the people, giving them some control over who held an office. Oyer redirects here. ...

It also stated that the meetings of freeholders and inhabitants (which were the effective local government of the Colony), except for an annual meeting to choose select men in March or May, and meetings filling selectmen's positions that might become vacant, would henceforth require the permission of the governor in writing, with no matter to be discussed that had not the governor's approval.

It also gave the sheriffs, now employed by the governor under the act, the power to select jurors for individual cases. Previously, jurors were selected from a pool of the town in which the case took place. Sheriffs could now place sympithizers on the jury, leading to an acquittal or guilty verdict, whatever favored the Crown.

External links

• Text of the Act