The Third Amendment: Simplified and Explained
United States Constitution
The Third Amendment is the third text in the United States Constitution. The Third Amendment protects home owners from soldiers wanting or ebing forced to live in their house (quartering).
Main Text of the Third Amendment
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Third Amendment History
News of 342 chests of tea dumped into Boston Harbour on December 16, 1773, in what was dubbed the Boston Tea Party, reached Britain in January 1774. Disgusted by the colonists’ action against private property, the British Parliament quickly decided upon the Coercive Acts as a means of reasserting British control over the colonies and punishing Boston.
As of May 20, 1774, the Massachusetts Government Act curtailed democracy in Massachusetts by altering the colonial charter of 1691 to reduce the power of elective officials and to increase that of the royal governor. On the same day, the passing of the Administration of Justice Act ensured that royal officials charged with capital crimes would not be tried in the colonies, but in Britain. On June 1, 1774, the Boston Port Act demanded payment for the destroyed tea before the port could reopen for any imports but food.
On June 2, 1774, Parliament completed its punishment by expanding the Quartering Act. In its original incarnation, the Quartering Act of 1765 had merely demanded that colonists provide barracks for British soldiers. In Boston, those barracks were on an isolated island in Boston Harbour. In 1766, the act expanded to include the housing of soldiers in public houses (hotels) and empty buildings. — History.com
Quick Notes
- The Third Amendment has never been used in a Supreme Court ruling.
- The Third Amendment is barley ever mentioned in legal cases.
- The law is still there as a safe guard for possible future events.
Article:
Jack Smith
