The Boston Tea Party
The night of December 16th 1773 also known as The Boston Tea Party may be one of the most influential and liberating days in American History. This particular day is important in American History because it was the main event in American history that sparked the Revolution.
When the Boston Tea Party occurred on the evening of December 16th, 1773 it was the result of culmination of many bad feeling between the British Government and her colonies.
A reoccurring issue that occurred between Great Britain and her colonies is that the colonies wanted to have the right to tax themselves. Britain however, did not agree with this. Britain believed that parliament had the right to supervise the colonies and tax them as necessary.
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Britain protected her colonies and needed tax money to pay for protection. They believed that the colonies were Britain's dependent and not her equal. Since the establishment of the colonies, the British government allowed merchants on the board of trade to oversee trade with the colonies. All that mattered was that British merchants were happy and earning a profit. It however became known that some colonists smuggled goods into the colonies. This meant that Britain would not be making any money from this exchange of goods. King George was convinced it was time to gain control of the colonies and earn money from them for government expenses. In 1764 parliament began to pass small taxes on sugar imported into the colonies These taxes however, did not fall directly on the colonists instead ship captain and merchants paid.
A year later in 1765 The Stamp Act was enforced. Parliament did not expected any complaints from the colonist because all previous taxes were small. The Stamp Act raised money by taxing newspapers,legal documents, dice and playing cards. The colonies had expressed outrage so parliament repealed this tax. England however, still needed money so the townshend act was formed. The Townshend act taxed lead,glass,paint and tea. When the Townshend act was formed, colonist reacted with caution. Samuel Adams, an assemblyman and a member of The Sons of Liberty wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter, this letter stated that Parliament's attempt to raise revenue went against the colonists rights because the colonies were not represented in Parliament. Boston then became the center of colonial defiance. The Sons of Liberty often held violent protests in which they tarred and feathered custom officials. Americans refused to buy British goods and Britain received great financial …show more content…
losses. During Britain's eighteen month military occupation of Boston on March 5, 1770 an argument broke out between colonists and British soldiers.
Insults were exchanged between citizens and off-duty soldiers, mobs formed in the streets of Boston and taunts occurred all day. At one point a citizen insulted a red coat and all out violence occurred. The soldier called for assistance and many soldiers rushed to his aid. Verbal attacks then turned into a physical confrontation in which colonists pelted soldiers with ice,snowballs,stones and clubs. Someone from the British side began shooting and killed 5 people and injured 6 others. This caused tension between the colonists and Britain. News was spread throughout the colonies that a horrid massacre had taken place in Boston and many colonist were convinced that the citizens of Boston were forced to defend themselves from out of control British soldiers. Britain however said that the British soldiers were driven to violence by the abusive and threatening citizens of Boston. This event in Boston is what caused Parliament to repeal the Townshend Act. Only the tea tax was kept.(8) This was known as the Tea Act of 1773. The Tea Act promised to lower the cost of East India Company tea by eliminating costs elsewhere. Most Americans saw this tax as unfair because they saw this tax as a”taxation without representation” When news of the tax spread to the colonies protests became spread out across the colonies. Hundreds of people gathered in
the old south meeting house to discuss what needed to be done. On November 28th a ship called the Dartmouth arrived and later two more. The Sons of Liberty urged the ship's owners not unload the tea and trigger the tax(9). On the night of December 16th, 1773, a revolutionary event was on the horizon and American life would change forever. Led by Samuel Adams, about 70 member of The Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians headed down to Griffin’s Wharf in the Boston harbor and boarded the three ships. The men then proceeded to smash,cut and slash chests filled with tea with their tomahawks. The men then dumped all the tea into the Boston harbor. The Bostonians destroyed 342 chests of tea worth approximately £18,00(10).On this night the tide was particularly low so some of the tea dumped overboard began to heap up beside the ships, some men began raking the tea leave into the water so nothing would be able to be salvaged(11) The attackers had only one goal in mind, to destroy and prevent the tea from arriving on Boston soil, they did not destroy any other cargo and did not mean to harm anybody aboard the ship. One man however, was injured when a winch had fallen on him. Only one man Francis Eckley, a barber was ever identified. The rest of the men involved remained anonymous(12).
One of the British actions that angered the colonists was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was passed in response to colonist's complaints about the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act, according to the chart in document one, forced colonists to buy a stamp and place it on all of their paper products. Colonists boycotted the Stamp Act and and formed the Committees of Correspondence and the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty, according to document two, tarred and feathered British officials and tax collectors to protest the Stamp A...
Many people believe that the Boston Tea Party arose just because of the Tea Act that came into play in 1773, but in-fact, this major statement arose from two issues surrounding the British Empire in 1765. The first of the issues was that the British East India Company was at risk of going under and the Parliament was finding ways to bring it back. The second issue was that there was a continuing dispute about the extent of the Parliament’s authority. Many colonists believe that the Parliament went overboard with their power and the people were concerned about the future. Attempting to resolve these two major issues, the North Ministry only worsened the problem and produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution.
Passed in 1767, the Townshend Acts put taxes on several basic items that, to obtain them, needed to be imported. These items included glass, paper, lead, and tea. The British planned out the Townshend Acts a little differently than they had previously planned other acts. They passed the Townshend Acts in a way for them to still make money, but to avoid direct conflict with the colonists. The British thought that if they taxed imported items, as opposed to taxing items produced in the colonies (like the Stamp Act did), that the colonists wouldn’t have as much hostility towards the act. The second part of the Townshend Acts was sending of troops and warships to Boston. In September of 1768, warships arrived in Boston harbor carrying four thousand troops. The soldiers came to keep structure after all the colonists’ chaotic reactions of the past acts. The establishment of the Writs of Assistance was the last part of the Townshend Acts. British soldiers used the Writs of Assistance to search colonists’ houses for smuggled goods. After the British passed the Townshend Acts, the colonists had several reactions in response to them. One reaction was boycotting. This colonial boycott was on all imported British goods, and it was extremely widespread. The boycott encouraged more colonists to join the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, which lead to many colonists replacing items, which they would normally buy from British merchants, with homemade versions. These items included fabrics, candles, and tea. Another reaction was non-importation agreements. Non-importation agreements are written agreements that said that whoever signed one would not purchase items from British merchants until they got representation in British Parliament. A tremendous amount of colonists signed these agreements, and those who didn’t were sometimes harassed or had their property destroyed. Similarly,
By this point, the colonists were beginning to question Britain’s motives. They believed they were being treated like slaves and being used solely for the economic growth of Britain. One night, in 1773, the colonists rebelled against these taxes on their tea. A group of men dressed as Native Americans boarded a ship at Boston Harbor and unloaded three vessels of taxed tea (Boston Tea Party). This event, known as the Boston Tea Party, enraged King George III, and inevitably prompted Parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts in 1774....
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.
In the mid eighteenth century colonist of the new world started to rebel against Britain. Living in the colonies cost Britain a great deal of money Colonist did not like that they were being taxed. There were several acts passed that angered the colonists. For example, the Stamp Act, the Stamp Act was passed in 1765 taxed all legal documents including newspapers and other printed materials. The Stamp Act affected all that bought printed materials and it did not affect the poor because it was not too expensive. The colonist started to rebel and boycotted “No taxation without representation.” The colonists rebelled in many ways one of them was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773 as an act of revolt colonists threw tea cargo of a ship to the ocean. These acts of Britain towards the new colonies caused colonist to revolve and declare war to separate from Britain. The colonists were not justified to going to war to break away from Britain because England was paying more taxes and the mother country deserved absolute respect; however, the colonists were justified to break away from Britain because they were taxed without representation.
The Boston Tea Party was not really a tea party. Instead it was a group of people dressed like Indians with axes dumping tea off three ships to protest British taxes. It took place in Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1773, from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.
George Hewes’ account of the Boston Tea party is considered a firsthand account of a historically significant event. The Boston Tea party took place the night of December 16, 1773 on three ships anchored in Boston Harbor. Hewes recounts the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party, the actual attack on the ships and its aftermath. He provides descriptive narration thus contributing to the historical context surround the Tea party. This event and many others leading up to it, provide a colorful backdrop on the eve of the American Revolution.
It also happened because the tax was a political move of the Parliament to claim control over the colonies. In light of the concept of agitation, it is clear that the Tea Party was a form of protest because the agitators did not like how the Parliament reasserts control. Although no one was hurt in this midnight raid, it sure did create a tension on the part of the Parliament. The physical presence of those who joined the raid tried to challenge the Tea Act of 1773. Although wasting a lot of tea should not be made a big deal, tea during that time was expensive and it has become a symbol of comfort by the colonists because they loved it. As such, the Boston Tea Party is significant because it showed that American colonists are very much willing to speak their freedom and exercise the same. Also, they are very willing to give up anything so that their right for independence is attained. Clearly, this is a form of lateral deviance because the agitators are very much willing to work outside the Parliament and in fact, colonists are ready for war. According to the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tea Party led to the American Revolution on April 19, 1775 in Massachusetts. Accordingly, the participants of the midnight raid were not punished but one person who was remained anonymous was stripped and punished devastatingly. Klein asserts that more than 92, 000 pounds of tea were
The Boston Tea Party played a significant role in the creation of the United States and the Revolutionary War. Prior to the imposition of taxes on tea, the colonists had already been subjected to the Quartering and Sugar Acts, which they vehemently opposed due to the British invasion of their homes and belongings. The colonists decided to boycott British goods, which proved successful in getting both acts repealed. However, this angered Parliament, which responded by imposing more taxes on the colonists. The colonists were taxed on various items, including coffee, sugar, glass, paper, wine, and printed materials.
That day would happen on March 5th 1770. On this evening, a British guard was patrolling a custom house, some colonists began taunting the soldier and soon a crowd of angry colonists arrived. The British officer decided it would be necessary to call in more troops. Later, around eight soldiers arrived to support the guard, by this time the mob grew to about three hundred people. A colonist kicked one of the soldiers down, and the soldier fired upon the crowd. After a short pause, the other British troop fired on the colonists. Thanks to the press and art of Paul Revere, this event is now known as the Boston Massacre. The Boston Tea Party, one of the most famous events of per-revolution America. The British imposed a tax on all tea and this united the colonists in an agreement against the tax. The Sons of Liberty once again mobbed up and threatened the shop owners to not support the tax. Throughout the colonies, agents of the Tea Act were forced to resign. When this didn't seem to be enough, the Sons of Liberty devised a plan at the liberty tree in Boston. On the night of December 16th a group of men dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded four British ships carrying tea and dumped it all into the harbor. This tea never landed and therefore this tea was never
The Boston tea party was a brief incident among many, composing, economic, and political crisis that ultimately caused a revolution. These events consisted of The French and Indian war, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Revenue Act, the Tea Act, and of course the Boston Tea Party. The incident caused by the colonies infuriated the British government therefore as punishment parliament responded to the abuse with the Coercive Acts of 1774 . When the thirteen colonies once again decided to resist the British troops revolution spread. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This act later on lead to the American Revolutionary War, were years later independence was
During the year 1765, the first direct tax was imposed on the colonies called the Stamp Act. This was ran by the British Parliament. Colonists had issues with the shocking and unnecessary taxation. The Sons of Liberty were upset about high taxes against the colonist, and they went to court against the British. It was difficult because they had no representatives in the Parliament to defend them. Samuel Adams and a group called the Loyal Nine led protesters. Those protesters were part of a riot in the Stamp Act in August 1765
In the 1760s, Boston was full of disorder. With each new British law came protest from American colonists. The people of Boston believed that Britain did not have the right to tax them because they did not elect their representatives in Parliament. Only the Massachusetts Assembly, whose members were elected every year, had the right to tax its citizens. The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 led to boycotts and unrest, steered by a group known as the Sons of Liberty. As a result, the British government sent troops to Boston to keep order. Instead of staying in a fort on an island in the Boston harbor, the British troops stayed on the commons and were living in buildings in the middle of town. The British troops’ presence in Boston was not welcome and Bostonians viewed them as a threat. Because they did not like the English army in their city, fights between the American colonists and the British troops were common.
In 1773, the Tea Act placed taxes on tea, threatening the power of the colonies. The colonies, however, fought back by pouring expensive tea into the Boston harbor in an event now known as the Boston Tea Party. The enraged Parliament quickly passed the Intolerable Acts, shutting down the port of Boston and taking control over the colonies.