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The Boston Port Act, in a London newspaper...



Item # 703363

April 02, 1774

THE LONDON GAZETTE, England, April 2, 1774  

* Boston Port Act passed in a British publication
* Boston Tea Party colonists punishment for destroyed tea


The front page has a report that Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massachusetts, requests to return to England, with Thomas Gage appointed as his replacement.
But of great significance is the page 2, 3 & 4 printing of the Boston Port Bill, titled: "An Act to Discontinue, in Such Manner & for such Time as are Therein Mentioned, the Landing and Discharging, lading, or shipping, of Goods, Wards, and Merchandise at the Town, and Within the Harbour, of Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America."
It is likely this is the first newspaper or magazine to print the Boston Port Bill as it was created in London. The same report appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette on May 18, 1774.
The Boston Port Act closed the port from all commerce and ordered the citizens of Boston to pay a large fine to compensate for the tea thrown into the river during the Boston Tea Party. This Act helped unify the thirteen colonies in anger against the Crown, and the First Continental Congress met to coordinate a response to this and the other Intolerable Acts.
Complete in 8 pages, 7 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches, full red tax stamp on both pages 1 and 3, very nice condition.

Item from Catalog 350 (released for January, 2025)

Category: Revolutionary War