Tea Act Crisis

On December 16, 1773 one hundred Bostonians disguised as American Indians boarded British ships anchored in the harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea that belonged to the East India Company. This historical event is known as the Boston Tea Party. Opposition developed in different colonial ports, variations of the Boston Tea Party took place in other colonies. In Philadelphia and New York colonist did not allow East India Company ships to weigh anchor in their ports and were returned to sea. In Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was left to rot.

The colonial unrest was supported by local merchants with business interests such as John Hancock with the support of Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. They helped spread the view that the act was another means of “taxation without representation” as they could not buy tea from other merchants at the same price as from selected official merchants.

The duty and the amount of tea imported from Britain decreased as a result of the Boston Tea Party. The quantity of imported tea from Britain declined by 90% in 1774 and import duties collected by 76%.[1]

Tea imported form Britain and duties collected in £ from 1761 to 1775

Related Information

Definition of the Tea Act

Tea Act contribution to the Revolutionary War

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