Boston Harbour Tea Party Facts and History

The Boston Harbour Tea Party was a pivotal moment in American history. On December 16, 1773, a group of colonists disguised as Native Americans boarded three British ships in Boston Harbour and threw 342 chests of tea into the water.

This bold act of defiance was a response to the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies, bypassing local merchants. The colonists saw this as an attempt to exert British control over their economy.

The Boston Harbour Tea Party was a carefully planned operation, involving over 100 colonists from various groups, including the Sons of Liberty. They had been secretly gathering and preparing for this event for weeks.

The aftermath of the Tea Party was swift and severe. The British responded with a series of laws known as the Coercive Acts, which aimed to punish the colonists and reassert British authority.

The Tea Act was a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War, passed by Great Britain's Parliament in 1773.

It allowed the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and much cheaper than other tea companies, but still taxed the tea when it reached colonial ports.

This move was designed to help the struggling company, but it only fueled the colonists' outrage over taxation without representation.

The Tea Act was the catalyst for some of the most important moments of the lead-up to the Revolutionary War.

Here are the key provisions of the Tea Act:

The Boston Tea Party happened on December 16, 1773, a few years before the start of the American Revolution in 1775.

It was an act of protest against taxation without representation and the East India Company's monopoly on tea. The colonists threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to make their point.

The Tea Act of 1773 gave the East India Company exclusive rights to transport tea to the colonies, which led to the Boston Tea Party.

The colonists were upset that the British Parliament was giving a company a monopoly on tea, allowing it to undercut its competitors and gain control of the market.

Several colonists stormed the tea ships and tossed the cargo overboard, responding to the governor's decision to allow the tea to arrive in Boston.

The Tea Act was passed in May 1773, allowing the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free, but still taxing it when it reached colonial ports. This move was a clear attempt by Britain to maintain its control over the colonies and reap the benefits of the lucrative tea trade.

The colonists were not pleased with the Tea Act, and protests began to rise. In fact, the cost of smuggled tea soon surpassed that of tea from the British East India Company, despite the added tax.

The Tea Act led to a significant increase in tea smuggling in the colonies, with prominent figures like John Hancock and Samuel Adams involved in the operation. These men were protesting taxation without representation, but also wanted to protect their own interests.

The Tea Act was a major catalyst for the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. It's a pivotal moment in American history that shows how Britain's attempts to exert control over the colonies ultimately led to rebellion.

Here are the key features of the Tea Act:

The Tea Act was a turning point in the relationship between Britain and the colonies, and it paved the way for the Boston Tea Party and the Coercive Acts that followed.

The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonial merchants and tradesmen founded to protest the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation. They included prominent patriots like Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry, and Paul Revere.

Led by John Adams, the Sons of Liberty held meetings rallying against British Parliament. They protested the arrival of a British East India Company ship carrying tea at Griffin's Wharf.

The ship, Dartmouth, had been joined by two other ships, Beaver and Eleanor, all loaded with tea from China. This tea was not just any ordinary tea, but it was a shipment of tea that sparked a revolution.

Governor Thomas Hutchison refused to allow the ships to return to Britain, and ordered the tea tariff to be paid and the tea unloaded. The colonists refused, and Hutchison never offered a satisfactory compromise.

Boston Harbour Tea is a significant event in American history, and here are some interesting facts to know.

It took nearly three hours for over 100 colonists to empty the tea into Boston Harbor. This massive amount of tea was more than 90,000 lbs, or 45 tons.

The chests of tea held in the harbor would cost nearly $1,000,000 dollars today.

The Boston Harbour Tea was a collection of five teas that played a significant role in history.

Bohea Black Tea was the most abundant of the five teas, with 240 chests onboard the ships in Boston Harbour.

It was made from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province and was picked, oxidized, and charcoal-dried after the prized spring teas had been harvested.

Congou Black Tea was well-made and expensive, with 15 chests dumped into Boston Harbour.

The name Congou is derived from Kung Fu, meaning any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete.

Souchong Black Tea was made from the larger leaves of the tea bush and was sometimes-smoky, making it one of Thomas Jefferson's favorites.

Ten chests of Souchong were destroyed in Boston Harbour.

Hyson Green Tea was a common 18th-century Chinese green tea often found in fine homes from Boston to London.

15 chests of this spring-picked tea were aboard the ships in Boston Harbour.

Singlo Green Tea was the most expensive of the five teas and was picked in the early spring.

It was the first ever to be shipped to the Colonies, and 60 chests were destroyed in Boston Harbour.