The Boston Tea Party
1773-12-16Boston, Massachusettshigh importance
Colonists dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation.
On December 16, 1773, American colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. This act of defiance was a protest against the Tea Act, which gave the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. The British response, the Intolerable Acts, pushed the colonies closer to revolution.
Key Takeaways
1
Direct act of defiance against British rule
2
Led to the Intolerable Acts
3
Unified colonial resistance