Boston Tea Party (0)

Boston Tea Party
Henry Lemendik
8b
About
The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea belonging to the British East India Company and dumped it into the Boston Harbor . The incident, which took place on December 16, 1773, was a key event in the growth of the American Revolution and remains an iconic event of American history.
Background
Europeans developed a taste for tea in the 17th century . When tea became popular in the British colonies in North America, Parliament sought to eliminate foreign competition by passing an act in 1721 that required colonists to import their tea only from Great Britain and the East India Company. Because Parliament heavily taxed this tea and charged the East India company tarrifs, both Britons and British Americans found that it was much cheaper to buy smuggled tea, which usually came from Dutch sources . The biggest market for smuggled tea was England , but tea was also smuggled into the colonies to a lesser extent.
Tea Act 1773
In response to this, the British government passed the Tea Act, which allowed the East India Company to sell tea to the colonies directly, paying the much lower American duty . This tax break allowed the East India Company to sell tea for half the old price and cheaper than the price of tea in England, enabling them to undercut the prices offered by the colonial merchants and smugglers, granting them a virtual monopoly . Many American colonists, particularly the wealthy smugglers, resented this favored treatment of a major company. Protests resulted, and it was those in Boston that made their mark in history.
The Event
The first of many ships which arrived at the Boston harbor carrying the East India Company tea was Dartmouth arriving in late November 1773. Thousands attended the protest meetings, every meeting larger than the one before . The crowds shouted defiance not only at the British Parliament, the East India Company, and Dartmouth but at Governor Thomas Hutchinson as well, who was still struggling to have the tea landed.
The owner of the Dartmouth and its captain agreed that the tea would be returned to England. However , Governor Hutchinson ordered the harbor to be blocked and he would not allow any tea-bearing vessels to leave until they had been unloaded. When the captain reported Hutchinson's refusal to a massive protest meeting, the participants disguised as Indians and headed toward Boston Harbor, where lay Dartmouth and the newly-arrived Beaver and Eleanor .
Casks of tea were brought up from the hold to the deck . The casks were opened and the tea dumped overboard The work was quick , thorough, and efficient. By dawn, over 342 casks or 45 tons of tea had been consigned to waters of Boston harbor. Nothing else had been damaged or stolen . Tea washed up on the shores around Boston for weeks.
The fourth East India Company ship carrying tea did not arrive with the other three. All fifty-eight tea chests were salvaged and put onto a fishing schooner, which arrived safely in Boston and into Bostonians' teapots.
Reaction and influence
The tea party caused a crisis . In Britain this act united all parties against the colonies. The British government felt this was an action which could not be unpunished and responded by closing the port of Boston.
The Boston Tea Party eventually proved to be one of the many reactions which led to the American Revolutionary War. The Boston Tea Party is known around the world and has been inspirational to other noted activists and reform leaders. American political activists have invoked the Tea Party as a symbol of rebellion against the establishment .
Used website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party