What was the Boston Tea Party and what did it do?

What was the Boston Tea Party and what did it do?

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor.

Why was the Boston Tea Party Important?

The Boston Tea Party was a raid that took place in the Boston Harbor in 1773, during which American colonists dumped shiploads of tea into the water to protest a British tax on tea. This event was important because it fueled the tension that had already begun between Britain and America.

Why was the Boston Tea Party so bad?

In simplest terms, the Boston Tea Party happened as a result of “taxation without representation”, yet the cause is more complex than that. The American colonists believed Britain was unfairly taxing them to pay for expenses incurred during the French and Indian War.

Was the Boston Tea Party illegal?

Many Americans shared Washington’s sentiment and viewed the Boston Tea Party as an act of vandalism by radicals rather than a heroic patriotic undertaking. The legislation closed the port of Boston until damages were paid, annulled colonial self-government in Massachusetts and expanded the Quartering Act.

What was the British response to the Boston Tea Party?

The Boston Tea Party caused considerable property damage and infuriated the British government. Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts of 1774, which colonists came to call the Intolerable Acts.

Why was the Tea Act bad?

The passing of the Tea Act imposed no new taxes on the American colonies. Besides the tax on tea which had been in place since 1767, what fundamentally angered the American colonists about the Tea Act was the British East India Company’s government sanctioned monopoly on tea.

Why was King George the third important?

He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language. George III is widely remembered for two things: losing the American colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole truth. George’s direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great.

Why didn’t the British stopped the Boston Tea Party?

If the tea wasn’t unloaded, customs weren’t paid. And if the ships tried to sail back out of port, Montagu would stop them and charge them with failing to pay customs on their cargo that was due, according to him, because they had already entered port.

What are 5 facts about the Boston Tea Party?

7 Surprising Facts About the Boston Tea Party

• Colonists weren’t protesting a higher tax on tea.
• 10 Things You May Not Know About the Boston Tea Party.
• The attacked ships were American and the tea wasn’t the King’s.
• The tea was Chinese, not Indian, and lots of it was green.
• The Tea Party, itself, didn’t incite revolution.

What did loyalists think about the Boston Tea Party?

The Boston Tea Party is awful, disgraceful, and terrible in loyalist opinion! The Boston Tea Party was a heinous crime. Patriots claim they should not be taxed, but they believe they are entitled to be taxed.

Why did colonists hate the Tea Act?

Many colonists opposed the Act, not so much because it rescued the East India Company, but more because it seemed to validate the Townshend Tax on tea. These interests combined forces, citing the taxes and the Company’s monopoly status as reasons to oppose the Act.

What act caused the Boston Tea Party?

Tea Act of 1773
The midnight raid, popularly known as the “Boston Tea Party,” was in protest of the British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade.

How did the Tea Party movement get its name?

The movement’s name refers to the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, a watershed event in the launch of the American Revolution.

Are there any myths about the Boston Tea Party?

The Boston Tea Party is now an iconic event suffused with myth, but below the surface is the story of a true act of revolution, carried out in a context of power politics, with surprising parallels in the modern era. Myth 1: The dispute was about higher taxes.

Who was responsible for the destruction of the Boston Tea Party?

Many patriots viewed the destruction of the tea as an act of vandalism. We all know and celebrate the climax to the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, several dozen men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three ships belonging to the East India Company, cut open 340 chests of tea and dumped the contents in Boston’s harbor.

What did the Tea Party movement call Obamacare?

Opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been consistent within the Tea Party movement. The scheme has often been referred to as ‘Obamacare’ by critics, but was soon adopted as well by many of its advocates, including President Obama.