The Boston Tea Party

1034 Words3 Pages

Splash! “…Patriots disguised as Native Americans threw 342 chests of tea overboard from three British ships” (Hart 71). This event, which the colonists enjoyed but angered the British, was later referred to as the Boston Tea Party. This started off when the East India Company had a superfluous supply of tea that nobody was buying. As a result, they lowered the price of the tea and sent it to America for the colonists to buy. This was called the Tea Act. The colonists weren't stupid and immediately recognized it as a hidden tax. They were extremely outraged and a secret group called the Sons of Liberty got the idea of throwing out the tea into the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party had a prodigious impact on the colonies politically, economically, and socially which altered the course set for America.

After the Boston Tea Party, both Britain and America politically changed. First, Britain passed ruthless laws. They were called the Intolerable Acts and were enforced by numerous British troops (Hart 72). The Intolerable Acts were composed of five different acts that affected the colonists hugely. One of them was called the Massachusetts Government Act. This meant that the government of Massachusetts was chosen by the king of Britain. Specifically, “It appointed for a council appointed by the crown and prohibited town meetings without the governor’s permission” (Bearman). This act had an adverse effect on the colonists because the government made unfair laws for them and they couldn’t meet and talk about Britain without being heard by the British. In addition, the Committees of Correspondence were banned (Causes of the American Revolution). As a result, they couldn’t exchange messages about politics. Besides, letters were the best t...

... middle of paper ...

...ts with the same confidence and encouragement that we find in people today. Succinctly, the Boston Team Party was a very important event in the making of America. It caused many significant future events that evolved America to how it is now, free and independent.

Works Cited

Bearman, Alan. Intolerable Acts. World Book Student. World Book, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.

"Causes of the American Revolution." BrainPop. FWD Media, Inc, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

Hakim, Joy. From Colonies to Country. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print.

Hart, Diane. History Alive!. Palo Alto: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2005. Print.

Lukes, Bonnie L.. The American Revolution. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1996. Print.

Stuckey, Sterling, and Linda Kerrigan Salvucci. Call to Freedom. Austin, Tex.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Boston Tea Party Dbq

    263 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Did The Tea Act Affect The American Revolution

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation”. This famous quote by Woodrow Wilson accurately shows how the American Revolution impacted the views of society on its country. When referring to this separation from Britain as a beginning rather than a finish it shows unity and the start of something great. When the American Revolution is discussed there are a plethora of affecting aspects that are thought of as important roles. One of these many factors that changed the American Revolution was the Tea Act of 1773. The Tea Act altered the American Revolution by affecting the Boston Tea Party and the unity in the colonies.

    Read More

  • How did King George III lose his 13 American Colonies?

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    By this point, the colonists were beginning to question Britain’s motives towards them. 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 a...

    Read More

  • Boston Tea Party

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Were The Colonists Justified To Rebel?

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: The Boston Tea Party

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    For my whole life, I have lived in Boston. In 1773, me and some others went on to the British’s ship to protest. We threw 342 chests of tea into the Ocean. This had caused the Boston Tea Party. As I am serving in the war, young women at home are crushing on British soldiers, only for their handsomeness and red fancy coats. At one point Washington’s position was uncertain. Valley Forge was located about 18

    Read More

  • The Colonists: Was The American Revolution Justified?

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Instead they passed new acts which were worse than the ones passed before. As a result of the Tea Act, all the taxes except the tax on tea was repealed in order to keep Parliament’s right to tax the colonies, and the colonists did not like this act. As a result of their anger towards the British, the Boston Tea Party occurred: Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston Harbor and empty 342 chests of tea to the Boston. Still, the British kept on trying to control the Americans, but this time, they passed 4 acts, the Intolerable Acts, in order to punish and control people; The Boston Harbor would be closed, the people of Boston would have a curfew, Massachusetts would lose its self-government/town meetings, royal officers would be allowed to be tried in Britain, and the British troops would use empty buildings. Instead of giving Americans the freedom they wanted, the British punished them. Yet, this did not stop Americans. Instead, they were even angrier to the British for the strict rules the British was passing in order to control the colonists. They knew they had to do something, which resulted in continental congresses, the Articles of Confederation, and the American Revolution. The British was not going to stop trying to hold power over the colonies, and as Patrick Henry started off by saying “Caesar had his Brutus — Charles the first, his Cromwell — and George the third — ” and finished “may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it”(Wolverton, Joe, II). This was no longer of a fight against the British, but a fight to be

    Read More

  • Boston Tea Party Thesis

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Sense of Identity and Unity of the Colonists

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... and ever would be considered as the cause of America. A year later, to help out Boston, which was suffering from the consequences of the Port Bill, donations were asked to all colonies to give relief to Boston (Doc G). The colonies joined up together to send out supplies to a city in need, which really showed that Americans were united. The colonists were ready to help each other out when they needed to and worked well together to get their point across to Britain.

    Read More

  • Agitation In The Boston Tea Party

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • British Imperial Policies and Colonial Resistance

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    The imperial tactics of the British Empire were exercised on the colonists through heavy taxes trade restrictions because of their mercantilist economy. The Stamp Act taxed the colonists directly on paper goods ranging from legal documents to newspapers. Colonists were perturbed because they did not receive representation in Parliament to prevent these acts from being passed or to decide where the tax money was spent. The colonists did not support taxation without representation. The Tea Act was also passed by Parliament to help lower the surplus of tea that was created by the financially troubled British East India Company. The colonists responded to this act by executing the Boston Tea Party which tossed all of the tea that was imported into the port of Boston. This precipitated the Boston Port Act which did not permit the colonists to import goods through this port. The colonists protested and refused all of these acts which helped stir the feelings of rebellion among the colonists. The British Mercantilist economy prevented the colonists from coin...

    Read More

  • First Continental Congress

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Intolerable Acts of 1774 greatly fueled the First Continental Congress. In response to the Boston Tea party, the British Parliament decided that a series of laws were needed to calm the rising resistance in America. “One law closed Boston Harbor until Bostonians paid for the destroyed tea. Another law restricted the activities of the Massachusetts legislature and gave added powers to the post of governor of Massachusetts.” As one can imagine, the American colonist viewed this as the British attempt to curtail their quest for independence.

    Read More

  • The Boston Tea Party

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Causes of the American Revolution

    493 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Tea Party Movement

    2416 Words  | 5 Pages

    The tea party has been a hot topic in the United States ever since the movement began in 2008, yet many people do not understand what exactly it is. Contrary to what some people may think, the tea party is not a true political party. It can broadly be defined as a gathering of libertarians, conservatives, and other people who want to change Washington. The common ideals of the tea party movement are cutting government spending, limiting taxes, and stopping excessive federal regulations. The most important thing one needs to know about the movement though, is that there is not a single tea party- the movement consists of hundreds of different autonomous groups, each widely varying in priorities and size.

    Read More

More about The Boston Tea Party

Open Document