The Coercive Acts known to the colonist as the Intolerable Acts were the British response to the Boston Tea Party. In December 1773, colonist boarded a British cargo ship and dumped 90,000 lbs. of tea into the Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act. The Prime Minister of England, Lord North, responded by passing four laws that would punish the colonist for the destruction of the tea. The first law was that Boston Harbor would be closed until the colonist paid for the destroyed tea. This law was meant to cripple commercial life at one of the biggest hubs of commerce in the colonies. The second law, gave the governor the power to appoint all the judges, sheriffs, and officers of the court. This law also made it illegal for town meetings, except for the election of the…