Tea Act And Its Impact On The Colonists And East India Company

The tea act made the price of tea lower from the East India Company so everyone would buy from them. They said that it was a benefit to the colonists because they could get tea cheaper now. The tax on the tea was very minimal and they just wanted to put a tax on it to show they have the right to tax.

“No taxation without representation” is being chanted through the colonies as of late, the Parliament of Great Britain has fed more fuel to the fire of the colonists, The Stamp acts have been introduced and many colonists do not agree.

The Tea Act angered, and led the colonists wanting independence because the East India Company made their tea really cheap and the British tea stayed expensive as it was before. Parliament made the East India Company tea really cheap, so the colonists would buy their tea, and make the East India Company gain more money from all the tea bought from the colonists. The colonists thought that was unfair so they dumped all eighteen million pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor. This was

“No taxation without representation!” That is what every colonist in the Thirteen Colonies shouted before the revolution started. Or that was what most people thought. Not all colonists wanted to gain independence like people today thought they did. In the mid 1700s, the colonists decided to go to war with the British to gain their independence. This was called the American Revolution. However, not all colonists agreed to do this. About ten percent of the colonists were loyal to the King. They were called Loyalists. About forty percent wanted to declare independence from the British. They were called Patriots. The other fifty percent didn’t care one way or another and were neutral. This created a lot of tension due to the diverse point of views.

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.

What made the taxations so unfair in the eyes of the colonists, was the fact that they had no representation in the parliament and no one was looking after their interests when the laws were being passed in England. The colonists felt left out, their own country was treating them as if they were foreigners and using them to improve the economy of mainland Britain at the expense of their own. Rebellions continued and independence talks began. "No taxation without representation!" Was a common phrase that echoed around the colonies.

Exasperated Americans saw that they had no sort of representation in England. No person of leadership was asked to sit in Parliament and voice any colonial concerns. The colonies did not have any sort of representation within the British Parliament. Without representation, the colonies were being taxed without any sort of consideration for the people. The Patriotic slogan for this particular upset was “No Taxation Without Representation”. Samual Adams used this phrase to gain more followers and to build a force against Britain. Adams was ready for a war, he wanted separation from England before others even thought

The colonists were angry at England because they could not vote for members of Parliament and no colonists were members of Parliament either. They thought this was very unfair treatment and they wanted to go against it. Parliament also said that the colonies could not trade anything with anyone but England and this fired them up even more. They wanted the freedom to trade with who they wanted to trade with instead of only being able to trade with one country, England. Of course when they got made it started a huge cry and that the colonists should not be taxed unless their own representatives approved the taxes. This is when the ¨no taxation without representation¨ began.

Before the American revolution the British did many unfair things to the colonists or Americans. One of the actions The British decided to do was tax the colonist without representation on the British parliament.

The colonists believed they had a right to be represented in Parliament before being taxed or at least vote for the taxing officials. The phrase “no taxation without representation” began to become popular within the colonies.

When the Boston Tea Party occurred on the evening of December 16,1773, it was the culmination of many years of bad feeling between the British government and her American colonies. The controversy between the two always seemed to hinge on the taxes, which Great Britain required for the upkeep of the American colonies. Starting in 1765, the Stamp Act was intended by Parliament to provide the funds necessary to keep peace between the American settlers and the Native American population. The Stamp Act was loathed by the American colonists and later repealed by parliament.

The Americans were offered full representation in Parliament more than once and said no every time. The whole no taxation without representation did not mean no representation in Parliament at all, it meant a Parliament of their own. The goal was a Parliament in the American colonies that was equal to the one in London and that also answered only to the King. That is why the Declaration is written to the King despite all the offense being things done by Parliament-it was to show who they thought had dominion over them and who did not.

It was the Tea Act. This act stated that only the British East India Company could sell or transport tea. Members of parliament passed this act because many of them had stakes in the company. At the time the British India Company was going bankrupt. This act threatened all colonial businesses by creating a monopoly. In Boston, the colonists devised a plan to resist this act. Several colonists dressed as Indians to deceive the British. These colonists seized the imported tea and dumped it into the harbor. The colonists dubbed this “the tea party.” The British responded to these actions by creating four acts jointly called the Coercive Acts. These acts closed the Boston ports to all trade, increased power of Massachusetts governor, granted trials of royal officials in Massachusetts be tried elsewhere, and allowed the new governor rights to quarter his troops anywhere. These Coercive Acts only angered the colonists more. They have strengthened their non-importation of British goods. They have also begun the forming of local militia companies.

Consequently, the British Parliament imposed taxation on the colonists in the 1760’s. The colonists resented this intrusion, for they felt they were not truly represented in the British government. Taxation without representation became the rallying cry of the colonists.

The Americans in the colonies decided to break away from Great Britain for many reasons. One reason was the taxes being put on items. This made the colonists come up with the phrase "no taxation without representation". (Doc #1)