Breaking open the chests, they tossed it into Boston Harbor. Geography. The Americans were protesting both a tax on tea (taxation without representation) and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company. On December 16, 1773, angry colonists, dressed as American Indians, destroyed 342 chests of tea to protest recent tax hikes imposed by the British Parliament. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). It was the first try of the colonists, to rebel with violence against their own government. Founded in 1600, the East India Company held a monopoly on the importation of tea to Great Britain. Protected and preserved for more than two centuries, the Robinson Tea Chest is the only known surviving tea chest from the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Destroying the tea was considered an act of treason by the British government and was punishable by death so it is not surprising they tried to hide their identities. Corrections? The acts included 5 laws, which were fully against American people’s interests. Twitter; Facebook; Pinterest ; Google Classroom; Email; Print; Credits Media Credits. The Boston Tea Party was the key-event for the Revolutionary War. It was an act of protest in which a group of 60 American colonists threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to agitate against both a tax on tea (which had been an example of taxation without representation) and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company. Along with these new laws, a new Quartering Act was enacted. Most Americans say that the Boston Tea Party was the first unofficial declaration of independence when a group of renegades dumped the beloved tea of Britain’s King George into the sea to protest a tax hike. A cumulative tale that builds the story of the Boston Tea Party form the tea fields of India to the fateful night when the crates of tea filled the harbor. The history of the Boston Tea Party belongs not just to the United States of America, but to the world. The Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in 1767 and imposing duties on various products imported into the British colonies had raised such a storm of colonial protest and noncompliance that they were repealed in 1770, saving the duty on tea, which was retained by Parliament to demonstrate its presumed right to raise such colonial revenue without colonial approval. CLOSED: Due to numerous factors we are now CLOSED for all on-site activities: tours, gift shop, tea room, until March. Aware that the Townshend duty would still be assessed and that this was an attempt by Parliament to break the colonial boycott of British goods, groups like the Sons of Liberty spoke out against the act. They all flew from their mothe… Dressed as Native Americans and wielding axes, they boarded the three ships as thousands watched from the shore. Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library is hosting a virtual Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16th at 7:30 p.m. to commemorate the 247th anniversary of the event that took place in 1773. The first attempt to apply a direct tax to the colonies, the Stamp Act was met with widespread protests in North America. Bio. Only in Boston did company agents remain in their posts. This allowed British troops to use unoccupied buildings as quarters when in the colonies. Call your friends and have them visit our website to see you in front of the Boston webcams. In a simple sentence, we can say the Boston tea party ensured an inevitable war between the British Empire and American colonists. The ship carried British East India Company’s tea. From United States. or Best Offer +C $23.20 shipping estimate. Due to a variety of taxes in Britain, the company's tea was more expensive than tea smuggled into the region from Dutch ports. Moving to the harbor, over one hundred members of the Sons of Liberty approached Griffin’s Wharf, where the tea ships were moored. American tax protesters have often invoked the Tea Party as their inspiration since the 1970s. This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Boston Tea Party worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about the Boston Tea Party which was a key moment in the history of the American Revolution as hundreds of … Shop with confidence. Home page of The Tea Party, a rock group from Toronto. However, it should have been apparent in…, Boston was not the only port to threaten to reject the casks of taxed tea, but its reply was the most dramatic—and provocative.…. Broadside that encouraged the Boston Tea Party, 1773. During the Boston Tea Party, several hundred participants, including Paul Revere, dressed in disguise, rowed in small boats … The following year, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which called for tax stamps to be placed on all paper goods sold in the colonies. While four sailed for Boston, one each headed for Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston. The Boston Tea Party took place on the night of December 16, 1773, a few years before the start of the American Revolution in 1775. Photo/Video. The Americans were protesting both a tax on tea (taxation without representation) and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company. Acting in opposition to the Townshend Acts, colonial leaders organized boycotts of the taxed goods. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. This reduced importation duties on the company and also allowed it to sell tea directly to the colonies without first wholesaling it in Britain. Tour. The leaders of other major cities in the colonies cancelled their orders in protest, but the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony allowed tea to arrive in Boston. In response, several colonists stormed the tea ships and tossed the cargo overboard. In the wake of what became known as the "Boston Tea Party," Adams began openly defending the actions taken as a protest by people defending their constitutional rights. In the course of the night, all 342 chests of tea aboard the ships were destroyed. These punitive measures included closing Boston’s harbour until restitution was made for the tea, reducing the Massachusetts Bay Colony to a crown colony with appointed, rather than elected, officials, and allowing the quartering of troops in vacant buildings across British North America. The Boston Tea Party took place on the night of December 16, 1773. Though celebrated by the colonials, the Boston Tea Party quickly unified Parliament against the colonies. 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