FACTS

British colonists in America were upset about the Tea Act of 1773 that the British government had passed. The Tea Act was a law declaring that the colonies had to pay taxes for imported tea. It allowed the tea to be sold by agents from the ast India !ompany instead of by colonial merchants. This cut out all the middlemen that were getting the tea from India and each selling it to the next man for a higher price until it got to America. Instead" the British ast India !ompany went directly to India and brought it to America and sold it for a cheaper price" but with the re#uirement of paying the tax. That would get the people that had been smuggling cheaper $utch tea to buy the British tea. %everal years before" Britain had helped the colonies in the &rench and Indian 'ar" and the colonists were in their debt. %o" Britain passed several new tax laws" the Tea Act being one of them. All over the colonies were protests against the Tea Act. The %ons of (iberty" a secret organi)ation of %amuel Adams and his followers" were behind almost every protest. They organi)ed what is *nown as the Boston Tea +arty. Three ships" the Dartmouth" the Eleanor" and the Beaver arrived in Boston ,arbor with British tea. 'hen the captain as*ed the wor*ers to unload the tea" they refused- they were part of the %ons of (iberty. The colonists held a meeting where they were told of the situation. The captain of the ship reported bac* to Britain" but they wouldn.t let the ship leave Boston until the tea was unloaded. To prevent the tea from landing" on $ecember 1/" 1773 in the evening" +atriots disguised themselves as Indians 0they called themselves the 1ohaw*s2 and carried out their well3conceived plan. The +atriots split up into three groups" each one having a leader" and snea*ed onto the three ships. They wor*ed #uic*ly and efficiently" hoisting the tea chests onto the dec*" splitting them open" and dumping the tea into the water. They made sure not to damage the ships while they wor*ed. The tas* was done in less tan three hours. verything was put bac* in its proper place and swept clean" and the wor*ers were chec*ed to see if they had ta*en any of the tea. 345 chests of tea" worth 16"666 pounds sterling" were destroyed.

Britain passed the Tea Act to pay for the war debt" to ma*e sure that everyone would pay the tax" and also as a reminder for the colonists that they were still a part of their mother country and that they were still dependent on it. 'hen Britain received word about the Boston Tea +arty on about >anuary 1?" 1774" they were outraged. +arliament was insulted" and ;ing <eorge and the ast India !ompany were shoc*ed because they had @ust lost a fortune in tea. A (ondon paper said" 7 It would be best to blow the town of Boston about the ears of its inhabitants and to destroy that nest of locusts.9 Britain couldn.t ignore this li*e they had been ignoring some of the other protests. They wanted the colonists to pay for destroying the tea and the men who were behind the Tea +arty to be found and arrested. But it was @ust about impossible to get an accurate list of the perpetrators because it had been *ept a closely guarded secret. The government heard various suggestions to punish the colonies. They hoped that by punishing them" the colonists. protests would die down. They feared however" that they would become too independent and gain momentum from this particular rebellion and create an even bigger one. They didn.t want the people that had once been supporting them to turn against them.

The colonists began to thin* of themselves as Americans with a separate identity from Britain" because for the last 166 years" there had been little interference from Britain. 'hen they started coming down hard on the colonists" though" and passing the taxes" they became more angry and opposed British control. The +atriots" the people that were loyal to America" were strongly against taxation without representation. They didn.t resent the new taxes as much as the fact that +arliament" the British government" passed the law without consulting the colonies. They couldn.t elect people to change the laws" and when they as*ed the British government to hear their re#uests" they were ignored. The reason behind the Boston Tea +arty was to show Britain how much the Americans opposed the Tea Act. &urious at the way they were being treated by Britain" they destroyed the chests of tea to ma*e a statement. They said" 7Taxation without representation is tyranny89 To the +atriots" the Boston Tea +arty was an extremely happy event" and they congratulated each other. It was the most magnificent movement out of all the others that they had previously done to rebel against the taxes. The +atriots sang" 7:ally" 1ohaw*s8 Bring out your axes. (et.s tell ;ing <eorge we.ll pay no taxes89 They hoped" and were confident" that Britain would finally understand their perspective on the taxes and reali)e how much the colonists opposed them and decide to repeal them. ,owever" some were afraid that it would have the opposite effect" and that they would be punished by Britain. =thers tried ma*ing an offer with the +arliament. They said that if they would repeal the Tea Act" they would pay for the destroyed tea" but +arliament didn.t accept the offer.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

As a result of the Boston Tea +arty" +arliament passed the !oercive Acts" *nown as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies" to prevent future uprisings. There were four ma@or changes that happened when the Intolerable Acts too* place. The first one" the Boston +ort Act" closed Boston ,arbor to all trade until they paid for the destroyed tea and the tax on it. In reaction to this" the colonists voted not to pay for the destroyed tea and decided to boycott all British goods. The second ma@or change" the 1assachusetts <overnment Act" made it so that British officials could choose the lawma*ers in 1assachusetts. The >ustice Act affected all of the colonies. It declared that anyone who murdered a person while trying to stop a riot could be tried outside of the colony where the murder occurred" so that it would prevent sympathetic local @uries. (astly" the Auartering Act let military leaders to put their troops anywhere they wanted in any of the colonies. The Intolerable Acts devastated the colonists because it made it seem li*e Britain was trying to enslave the colonies.