The Boston Tea Party is an event that took place at Boston harbor where many colonists, in an act of rebellion, dumped 90,000 pounds of tea leaves into the ocean, costing Great Britain $1.8 million in today’s money (O’Neil 49). This action was very influential on the American Revolution. It let Great Britain know that the colonists weren’t going to let themselves get walked all over. The Boston Tea Party was a crucial cause of the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation, and it occurred because of political, financial, and societal issues.
There had already been conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies before the Boston Tea Party took place. The British Parliament had passed a few laws, placing taxes on the colonies. These laws were called “acts”. Some of the most influential ones were the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts (Ladenburg 44-45). The colonists despised these acts and decided to protest peacefully. They organized a boycott of all British products (“1764 to
…show more content…
The British government placed a series of taxes on the colonies, which made them very upset. The colonists responded by boycotting British goods, including tea, which had a significant impact on the British economy. To save the British East India Company from bankruptcy, the British government passed the Tea Act of 1773, which allowed the company to sell tea directly to the colonies, bypassing the colonial merchants. However, the colonists saw this as an attempt to force them to buy British tea and pay the tax, which they believed was unjust. This led to the Boston Tea Party, where the colonists destroyed millions of dollars worth of British tea, as a symbolic act of resistance against British economic policies. These financial issues played a significant role in the events leading up to the American