ABSTRACT
Colonial governments had long held control over their own affairs and their members could not fathom ceding or losing that power to the British government, let alone other colonies. Yet to counter the Intolerable Acts, Americans would have to put aside their prejudices against colonists from other colonies and work together. This was made easier by the decade of publications since the Stamp Act, in pamphlets and newspapers, in which arguments were honed on colonial rights. Although all those engaged in public discourse did not agree, certainly there was recognition that the colonies shared a similar situation in their relationship to the mother country: the political importance and power of their respective governments was threatened by the actions taken against Massachusetts.
