Quartering Act 1776?

Question

Were British soldiers ever quartered in people's homes, or just in inns?
Thanks God Bless!!

would soldiers quartered in a person's home if they had an unmarried daughter?

Answer 1

Rochelle's main point is correct -- it was NOT about 'people's (private, inhabited) homes' as we often think. But I do not know of any instances of the sort of breach of this law by the British, nor use of THAT sort of claim as propaganda.

(The latter would not be beyond them -- the press was not always responsible in those days either!-- but I do not believe that was the sort of complaint the colonists ever made. If there WERE recorded abuses, and/or claims of such, I'd love to see examples.)

Some explanation and evidence:

The Quartering Act of 1774 (not 1776), did NOT require people to house British soldiers in their private homes. This is a popular myth. The complaint concerned the demands for provision of housing and food at the colonists' own EXPENSE as well as that the authority to make decisions in these matters was taken out of local hands.

But don't just go on my say-so.

Here are links to the complete text of this act AND its predecessor (the Quartering Act of 1765). Some folks think that the later one expanded the demand to private homes, but a comparison of the texts shows that is not so.
http://ahp.gatech.edu/quartering_act_1765.html
http://ahp.gatech.edu/quartering_act_1774.html


And here is a helpful history.com article and a pair of very solid blog posts explaining the meaning and context of these acts, debunking the myths and showing what the colonists' REAL complaints (second and third are a pair):

http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=320

http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2007/03/myths-and-realities-of-quartering-act.html
http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/James%20Forrest

Answer 2

The only people's homes they were to be in were abandoned homes. The law said abandoned homes, inns, stables and the like. But we know laws aren't obeyed to the letter. So yes, some homes were used against the wishes of the owners. It just wasn't as widespread as people believed. The reported numbers were higher than actual for propaganda purposes.

Yes, sometimes even the good guys lie.

Answer 3

They were quartered in people's homes. Families always hated, and loved having British soldiers, with them. Towns loved the extra business, families were afraid of their daughter's virtue. It was said that in British occupied Boston, a girl could not bend to pick a flower without the fear of being taken. It is ironic that we fought against quartering on our soil but have been quartering our troops in other people's homes in every foreign war we have ever fought.

Answer 4

the british soldiers were in people's homes, inns, taverns, anywhere with beds and food. they often offended women of the building, were very rude, unclean, and, for extra money, took jobs on the side, often from Americans that need the money to feed a family.

Answer 5

Both