what was the quartering act

The Quartering Acts were two or more Acts of the British Parliament that required the local governments of Britains North American colonies to provide British soldiers with housing and food. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny Act and required annual renewal by Parliament. The Quartering Act of 1765, in particular, was passed in response to increased empire defense costs in America following the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s War. It was also an assertion of British authority over the colonies, disregarding the fact that troop financing had been exercised for 150 years by representative provincial assemblies rather than by the Parliament in London. The Quartering Act of 1774 allowed royal governors, rather than colonial legislatures, to find homes and buildings to quarter or house British soldiers, further intensifying tensions between the colonies and the British government.