Boston Tea Party And Signing Of Tea Act

Ever wonder why America’s history is so important? There were several things that occurred like for example: the Civil War, Civil Rights movement, Women’s Rights movement and well, the famous Boston Tea Party. But, what led this act to happen in the first place? And, why did it mark its place in the American Revolution?

From 1756-63, the The Seven Years’ War left Empire shaking with debt. In the 1760s, Britain was sinking deep and Parliament dropped heavy taxes on American colonists to help prevent them from drowning. This is where The Stamp Act comes in action. It was passed in 1765 by Parliament and tax was imposed in every single paper document in the colonies. “The government felt the taxes were fair since much of its debt was earned fighting wars on the colonists’ behalf. The colonists, however, disagreed. They were furious at being taxed without having any representation in Parliament, and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them to gain revenue.” (Boone, 2009) The colonists had the right to be furious, but government did what they thought was right in that era.

The Boston Massacre affected relations between Britain and American colonies. The colonists had no choice, but to fight for their independence. They did not like the idea of being taxed unfairly and it caused them to take action on the matter in their own way. “It began on the evening of March 5, 1770 with a discussion between Private Hugh White and a few other colonists outside the Custom House in Boston on King Street. The argument began to escalate as more colonists gathered and began to harass and throw sticks and snowballs at Private White.” (Nelson, 2019) A few colonists died quickly and two others were majorly injured which caused them to die later from their wounds. After the Boston Massacre happened the colonies screamed for patriotism; it was in need of power from anything or anyone. “Groups like the Sons of Liberty used it to show the evils of rule. Although the American Revolution would not start for another five years, the event certainly moved people to look at rule in a different light.” (Nelson, 2019) Of course when everything is not going so well both sides take advantage and they use propaganda in the newspapers to make the other side look like the bad guy.

In May 1773, The Parliament passed the Tea Act. This movement allowed East India Company to sell tea for a cheaper price in other tea companies. There was just no way Britain would let millions of tea-consumers not get taxed on their tea. Colonists would drink pounds of tea each year, but soon began to boycott and smuggled Dutch tea leaving East India Company in the gutter or bankrupt.

The Sons of Liberty, a mob of colonial tradesmen and merchants who disagreed with the Stamp Act and any other form of taxation. This group included patriots such as Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry and Paul Revere, as well as Adams and Hancock. Adam led the group, the Sons of Liberty and privately gathered together to make plans since they were against Parliament. They protested the arrival of Griffin’s Wharf in Dartmouth, a East India Company ship carrying tea. By December 16, 1773, Dartmouth had been met by her sister ships, Beaver and Eleanor. The three large ships stacked, packed and loaded with tea from China.