The Boston Tea Party
Background
Tea was a popular drink in the colonies, just as it was in Great Britain. However, many people decided they would not buy British tea if they had to pay an unfair tax. And they thought the new tax on tea was every bit as unfair as the old tax on paper. After all, the new tax had been approved by the same British Parliament (government) in London, and there were still no representatives from the 13 colonies there.
Suddenly, deciding to take a sip of tea meant something more than just having a drink. If you bought British tea, you were paying a tax, and, indirectly, you were agreeing that Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. On the other hand, if you refused to buy British tea, you were making a statement of a different kind: you were saying that you did not approve of-and would not accept-taxation without representation.
Colonists who were angry about the new tax agreed not to buy British tea. But they didn't stop there. They also visited inns and other places that sold tea and asked the owners to stop selling it. Many establishments agreed to boycott British tea.
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, in the Boston harbor, in Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation," dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn't take taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence.
Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen?
In the 1760s, Britain was deep in debt, so British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on American colonists to help pay those debts.
Tea Act Imposed
Britain eventually repealed the taxes it had imposed on the colonists except the tea tax. It wasn't about to give up tax revenue on the nearly 1.2 million pounds of tea the colonists drank each year.
In protest, the colonists boycotted tea sold by British East India Company and smuggled in Dutch tea, leaving British East India Company with millions of pounds of surplus tea and facing bankruptcy.
In May 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act which allowed British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and much cheaper than other tea companies - but still tax the tea when it reached colonial ports.
Tea smuggling in the colonies increased, although the cost of the smuggled tea soon surpassed that of tea from British East India Company with the added tea tax.
What Happened at the Boston Tea Party?
That night, a large group of men - many reportedly members of the Sons of Liberty - disguised themselves in Native American garb, boarded the docked ships and threw 342 chests of tea into the water.Boston Tea Party
Aftermath
While some important colonist leaders such as John Adams were thrilled to learn Boston Harbor was covered in tea leaves, others were not.No one was hurt, and aside from the destruction of the tea and a padlock, no property was damaged or looted during the Boston Tea Party. The participants reportedly swept the ships' decks clean before they left.
Who Organized the Boston Tea Party?
Though lead by Samuel Adams and his Sons of Liberty and organized by John Hancock, the names of many of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain unknown. Thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and imprisoned.