Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party in 1774 by passing laws known as Intolerable Acts. One of the laws closed Boston Harbor and said that it be restricted the activates of the Massachusetts.  Legislature and gave added powers to the post governor of Massachusetts. Which basically made him a dictator. Committees of correspondence throughout the colonies warned citizens that the United Kingdom could also disband their legislatures and take away their political rights. Several committees called for a convention of delegates from the colonies to organize resistance to the Intolerable Acts. The convention was later to be called the Continental Congress. They first met in Philadelphia on September 5 to October  26 1774.

The government spent immense sums of money on troops and equipment in an attempt to subjugate Massachusetts. British merchants had lost huge sums of money on looted, spoiled, and destroyed goods shipped to the colonies.

Sources
Martin, James Kirby. “Revolutionary War in America.” World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. Internet 1/11/2007<http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar466820>.

“Coercive Acts Imposed By British 1774.” Coercive Acts Imposed By British 1774. 2000. MultiEducator, Inc. . 16 Jan 2007 <http://www.multied.com/Revolt/coercive2.html>.

Kindig, Thomas . “The Intolerable Acts.” The Intolerable Acts. 2007. Independence Hall Association,. 16 Jan 2007 <http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/intolerable.htm>.