The Quartering Act of 1765 was one of several laws enacted by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville (1763–1765) that were meant to reduce England’s war debt, raise revenues from the American colonies, and reshape Great Britain’s imperial system. The act was an amendment to the annual Mutiny Act, which had regulated the British army since 1689. Through successive renewals it established rules governing every aspect of military life, from pay to quarters to punishments for desertion. The Quartering Act of 1765 was specifically directed to North America, where a small but costly army protected the western frontiers in the aftermath of Pontiac’s Rebellion, an uprising of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region. The act required that the colonial legislatures pay for the quartering and feeding of these troops. In places where the Crown provided no barracks, the commander in chief of British forces (or his subordinate commanders) had the authority to requisition unoccupied houses and barns for the soldiers’ use or to house the officers and men in public buildings, such as taverns or inns, at the expense of the colonial governments.