While tea dates back almost 5000 years to ancient China, there is a tale that about tea was created. An Emperor (and herbalist) who was sick, sitting under a tree waiting for his servant to boil water. As the water boiled leaves from the tree had fallen into it, and the Emperor decided to drink it anyway.
Out of all the countries to be introduced to tea, the United Kingdom was one of the last nations to be familiarized to it. By the mid-1600s, “Americans” were already drinking tea. Tea was being brought back from the Portuguese who were living in the East as traders and missionaries. But it was not the Portuguese who were the first to transport; it was actually the Dutch. Which soon had established teas as its popular drink.
Not too long after, tea soon became a common house hold object in England. From offices to nurseries, middle-class and upper-class families alike used tea for "At Home" events. I was able to be served for breakfast through dinner and be just as satisfying for either meal. During the hype of tea Family Tea time was created became, which included sardines, potted meats, muffins and crumpets, and was served in the living room.
The East India Company was perhaps the most powerful organization. Not only did it
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First becoming a popular drink in coffee shops, with locations near business for not only relaxation but pleasure as well. They were originally for middle and upper-class men; the women would drink tea in their own homes. During that time tea was still too expensive to be common among the working classes. Working class couldn’t afford tea because it’s high taxation price. The first tax on tea in the leaf, introduced in 1689, was so high at 25p in the pound that it almost stopped sales. It was reduced to 5p in the pound in 1692. Unfortunately with all the taxations, there was unseen consequence; there was growth of methods to avoid taxation including smuggling and
The Colonists were sick of the high prices of the tea coming from Britain. Before the Tea Act, the colonist were paying high prices of two shillings and six pence. Colonists
At the time tea was the most popular non-alcoholic drink in the world, and consequently, was highly taxed. All tea which was being sent to America was first shipped through England. By the time the tea made it to America, the price was through the roof. In response to the high price of tea, many merchants began smuggling the tea into America and selling it at a discounted price to the colonists. This system worked well until the Tea Act was passed. The Tea Act lowered the import tax on tea, and imposed a small tax on the tea itself. Unfortunately, the colonists did not react as well as the English hoped. Merchants felt threatened by the tax as many of their businesses relied on smuggled tea to turn a profit. The colonists also reacted negatively, believing that Britain was unfairly imposing a tax which they had to right to impose. In retaliation, American colonists dressed as Indians and dumped 342 chests of tea from British merchant ships into Boston Harbour, and again, nine days later in Delaware, colonists dumped over 700 chests. The British, rightly outraged by the actions of the colonists, imposed the Coercive Acts: 1) the King closed Boston Harbour until all the dumped tea was payed for, 2) the Massachusetts charter was annulled, and the governor council was reappointed by the King, 3) the Quartering Act required homeowners
The Tea that reach America from china inspired new addictions, new trade connections and new forms of luxury, new social critiques and simmering provincial inferiority. Many caffeinated drinks had come before the tea however this was a new drink to the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, this drink did not come without its own problems (50).
The Tea act was extended by the British Parliament in 1773 to reduce the tax on tea shipped to the dependencies. The Act was one of many measures imposed on the American colonists by the British regime. The Act imposed a tax on tea imported to the colonies by a company that Great Britain had set up for that role. That society owned the sole right to import tea to the settlements, so almost all tea consumed by colonists would be taxed. They were so furious that they boycotted tea altogether.
Ten years later after the Proclamation of 1763 there was a tax put on tea in Boston,Massachusetts.Tea was a very popular
In the late sixteenth- century Europe adopted a caffeinated warm drink for the first time this included chocolate, tea and coffee. Tea fills the senses with a bittersweet scent. This herb came from china by ship. Unlike cider and beer tea was new to the English-speaking world (49). Starting in the eighteenth- century Europe trading companies began to market green and black tea (51). Before this time period tea was very rare in the west region of British north America. Only the wealthy could originally afford tea and sugar. Tea was also used as a source of herbal medicine rather than traditional methods. This herb was also expensive because it shipped across great distances and allowed the East India Company to charge higher prices and labor added an extra charge. This resulted in tea becoming a luxury item in the colonies (53). The Townshend’s act in 1767 put a tax on tea which Americans responded that parliament could not tax without their consent. This frustrated the colonist because it put their love for tea at risk, so they responded to parliament by aiming at British merchants and manufactures
The tea its self wasn’t made in Britain but made in China. The British East India Company had extensive dealings in China. The tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party was described as “Bohea” type, which is known as black tea. The black tea come from the mountains in China.
The colonists also thought that if they paid the duty on the tea, the British would impose other taxes on them. The smugglers were also angry because this would wipe out their entire illegal business (Funk 3). Even the people in England were upset because they weren't getting tea as cheap as in America for a short time. False rumors started to spread through the colonies that there was poison, bugs, and rat-tails in the tea (Francis).
Tea became a mainstream drink in Asia around 100 BCE. It then became a mainstream drink in Europe around 1610 CE.
In 1773, Parliament aroused the Americans by passage of the Tea Act. This act, designed to help the East India Company by making it cheaper for them to sell tea in America, was interpreted by Americans as a subtle ploy to get them to consume taxed tea. In Boston, in December 1773, a group of men dumped the tea into the harbor.
It is also good to remember and understand the Tea Act actually didn’t have no new tax on the tea. After all it easily gave taxes a time to relax towards the tea company of East India. Weeks later in the Boston Tea Party, with 92,000 pounds of the tea that got dumped over the boats into the caused it to smell really bad. This was outcome of the Boston Tea Party, the British had shut the Boston Harbor until the 340 chests of British East India Company tea was paid for. This was set under the Intolerable Acts of 1774, this is also known as the Boston Port Act.
One of the largest points that the author makes is the significance of tea to the people in the colonies. While there were many who thought that tea was evil and caused health issues, the overwhelming majority of colonist were obsessed. Tea was something new and seen as a luxury item. It took a six-month voyage for the EIC to bring to the precious leaves to Boston. Once there, it was auctioned to those who could afford it. While the bourgeoisie sipped their tea and
The tea act was a tax on tea passed by the parliament to tax the colonists to pay off their debt from the french and indian war. The patriots were outraged by the tea act because they felt why should the British be able to tax us when we are all the way across the ocean. Ever since the tea act was passed in 1773 there have been hostilities had been near the breaking point. The colonists did not like that the British East India tea company was given an exclusive right to sell tea in America. Sam Adams organized the sons of liberty because he wanted to take down the unfair tax on tea. He and the sons of liberty dumped hundreds of pounds of tea into the harbor. This was one of the main events that lead up to the Revolutionary war.
In 1773 Parliament passed a Tea Act designed to aid the financially troubled East Indian Company by granting it a monopoly on all tea exported to the colonies, an exemption on the export tax, and a "drawback" (refund) on duties owed on certain surplus quantities of tea in its possession. “The tea sent to the colonies was to be carried only in East India Company ships and sold only through its own agents, bypassing the independent colonial shippers and merchants. The company thus could sell the tea at a less-than-usual price in either
Attention getter: In the East tea has always been looked at as playing a major role in having good health, happiness, and wisdom, and it has now begun to gain more attention from researchers here in the West.