What British act required colonists to provide housing for soldiers?

What British act required colonists to provide housing for soldiers? The answer is the Quartering Act.

The Quartering Act refers chiefly to British legislation passed in 1765 that required colonial governments to provide accommodations and supplies for British troops stationed in North America. Colonists were generally expected to use available barracks and public buildings first; if those were insufficient, troops could be placed in inns, alehouses, and other facilities.

The law followed the French and Indian War, when Britain kept a large army in the colonies to defend its newly expanded North American territories. Parliament expected the colonies to help bear the cost. Many colonists objected that the act imposed financial burdens without their consent and represented another example of Parliament exercising authority over them.

The Quartering Act is often confused with the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution, which later restricted the peacetime quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner’s consent. It is also distinct from the Townshend Acts and Stamp Act, which imposed different forms of taxation and regulation. Parliament passed another Quartering Act in 1774, further intensifying colonial opposition before the Revolution.