What Is The Significance Of The Boston Tea Party

In May of 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act, which made many fear of being put out of business by the British East India Company. Therefore, the colonist united against it. Tea agents in New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston rejected shipments, but governor Hutchinson allowed three arriving ships to deposit their cargo in Boston. Several mass meetings were held to demand that the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver be sent back with the duty unpaid. On the 16th of December a meeting at Old South Church was governor Hutchinson's final refusal, so that night a group of unknown men boarded the

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.

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.

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that took place on December 16, 1773 in Boston Harbor in Boston, Massachusetts. The Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams, dressed as Mohawk Indians destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent from the East India Company by throwing chests full of tea into the Boston Harbor. George Hewe’s, an eyewitness of the event writes in his journal, “In about three hours from the time we went on board, we had thus broken and thrown overboard every tea chest to be found in the ship, while those in the other ships were disposing of the tea in the same way, at the same time.” (Hewes). The Sons of Liberty, a secret group formed by the 13 colonies to protect the rights of the colonists, protested in opposition of the Tea Act implemented on May 10, 1773. The Tea Act was an act placed by the British Parliament in order to raise revenue for Great Britain that required tax on

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1773. The citizens of the colonies felt cheated due to the lack of representation in Parliament which caused unfair taxes colonists could not do anything about. In their opinion, they were British citizens as well and deserved the same rights given to those back in the mother country and to not have “virtual representation” where members of Parliament were chosen to speak for those across the sea instead of an election to decide who holds their seat in office. Therefore, when a shipment of highly overpriced tea, due to taxes, docked at the harbor, the Sons of Liberty paraded in dressed as American Indians and in a matter of three hours

The Boston Tea Party happened on December 16, 1773. The sons of liberty boarded 3 ships and dumped tea into the Boston harbor. They did this because of the British oppression. The British said they would have to pay all the tea off or the harbor will be closed.

After months of protests Parliament realized their mistake and repealed the tax, but the damage had already been done and the Colonists would start a revolution to separate themselves from the British. On December 16, 1773 the Sons of Liberty, a group of Patriots led by Samuel Adams cut open 340 chests of British East India Company tea, weighing over 92,000 pounds (roughly 46 tons), onboard the Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor and then dumped it into Boston Harbor; a total loss of $1,700,000 dollars in today’s money. Weeks after the ordeal the harbor still had the smell of tea. Until the 340 chest of British Eat India Company tea were paid for the British completely closed off Boston Harbor. The Intolerable act which was meant to punish the actions of the Sons of Liberty. This did not help Colonists’ approval of the British government. The harsh punishments unified the American colonists even more against British rule. The effect the Boston Tea Party had was noteworthy and ultimately sparked the American Revolution which started only two years later in Massachusetts on April 19,

On the cold night of December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty dumped about forty-six tons of British tea into the Boston Harbor, destroying the boxes and turning the water brown; however, this was not a violent protest. Many of them did not want any damage to be done to the three ships carrying the tea, the last of which had just arrived that morning. During the entire event, only a few people got injured. Most of the protesters were unharmed and cooperated with each other to protest against the British government, although one man was caught stealing the tea they were supposed to be destroying, and another was knocked unconscious by a falling box of tea. Despite those mistakes, most colonists supported the Boston Tea Party, and it had a great effect on what was yet to come.

Dressed up as Natives the colonist boarded the boats and began pouring every tea chest into Boston Harbor. (document

     To enforce the before mentioned acts, Townshend began to use the writs of assistance. The writs of assistance allowed British troops to search someone’s house for goods that were smuggled into America. Usually someone would have to obtain a warrant in order to search the house, but the writ allowed the house so be searched without a warrant and without even specifying what was being targeted in the inspection. The writs of assistance enraged the colonists more than any of the other acts. Before the laws would be enforced though, Townshend died (Hansen 141).

Paul Revere was the first to deliver the news when he rode to Manhattan, New York on the 21st of December. Once the news had hit London, the British shut down the Harbor “until all of the 340 chests of British East India Company tea were paid for” (Labaree). After the whole Party, the Boston Harbor smelled like tea as expected after 92,000 pounds of tea had been dropped into it. To make sure the tea was not salvaged by the British, member of the Sons of Liberty went out in boats and hit the tea with spears to make sure that the tea could not float back to the top of the harbor. As mentioned before, the Intolerable Acts also known as the Boston Port Act was put in place to retain the money lost from the tea.

On December 16, 1773 at Boston Massachusetts Harbor, approximately 150 members from the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians marched to Boston Harbor where hundreds of people watched the event on docks. They boarded 3 ships that belonged to the British and they threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

Governor Hutchinson allowed three ships carrying tea to enter Boston Harbor. Before the tax could be collected, Bostonians took action. On a cold December night, radical townspeople stormed the ships and tossed 342 chests of tea into the water. Disguised as Native Americans, the offenders could not be identified. The damage in modern American dollars exceeded three quarters of a million dollars. David Ramsay elaborates on the dual motivation for the Tea Act of May 1773: (1) to save the near-bankrupt British import company by granting it a virtual monopoly of the American tea market, and (2) to assert British authority to tax the American colonies. The act reduced the duty on British tea, but for decades’ American merchants had avoided paying

The Tea Act of 1773 was a tax on tea but, the British lowered the cost of tea significantly enough that even with the tax, British tea was cheaper than Dutch tea. Also to keep the price down, the British East India Co. got rid of the middleman in the colonies and opened up their own shops. If the colonists bought this tea, they would be accepting the fact that the British could tax without representation. On Dec. 16th 1773 the ships docked at the Boston ports. The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Indians and threw 324 chests of tea into the water. England responded to the Boston Tea Party by the Coercive Act of 1774.

later recorded by George Hewes, and eyewitness and participant in the event. He states that the tea was contained in three ships, lying near each other at Griffin’s wharf. Armed war vessels surrounded these three cargo ships. The commanders of the war vessels had