| − | The '''Boston Tea Party''' (Dec. 16, 1773) was led by [[Samuel Adams]] and other members of the [[Sons of Liberty]], who thinly disguised themselves as Mohawk [[Native Americans | Indians]] and boarded ships of British East India Company, dumping 342 chests of [[tea]] into [[Boston Harbor]]. | + | The '''Boston Tea Party''' (Dec. 16, 1773) was led by [[Samuel Adams]] and other members of the [[Sons of Liberty]], who thinly disguised themselves as Mohawk [[Native Americans | Indians]] and boarded ships of British East India Company, dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. |
| | Bostonians and other colonists had been subjected to a tax on tea as well as paint, paper, and glass with the passage of the [[Townshend Acts]] in 1767. Protests and non-importation movements by the colonists led the repeal of the Townshend duties in 1770, with the exception of the duty on tea. In 1773, [[Parliament]] passed the [[Tea Act]] which allowed the struggling [[East India Tea Company]] to sell a half million pounds of tea in the colonies while bypassing the importation taxes normally paid under the [[British Navigation Acts]]. For all practical purposes, the 1773 Tea Act gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly by allowing them to charge less than other merchants. Despite the fact they were now paying less for tea, American colonists [[protest]]ed the act. Incidents like the Boston Tea Party were avoided in other port cities, when East India ships left without unloading their cargo in the face of protests by colonists. [[Massachusetts]] governor [[Thomas Hutchinson]], however, issued an order forbidding ships to leave port without unloading their cargo and this was a key factor that led to the Boston Tea Party. | | Bostonians and other colonists had been subjected to a tax on tea as well as paint, paper, and glass with the passage of the [[Townshend Acts]] in 1767. Protests and non-importation movements by the colonists led the repeal of the Townshend duties in 1770, with the exception of the duty on tea. In 1773, [[Parliament]] passed the [[Tea Act]] which allowed the struggling [[East India Tea Company]] to sell a half million pounds of tea in the colonies while bypassing the importation taxes normally paid under the [[British Navigation Acts]]. For all practical purposes, the 1773 Tea Act gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly by allowing them to charge less than other merchants. Despite the fact they were now paying less for tea, American colonists [[protest]]ed the act. Incidents like the Boston Tea Party were avoided in other port cities, when East India ships left without unloading their cargo in the face of protests by colonists. [[Massachusetts]] governor [[Thomas Hutchinson]], however, issued an order forbidding ships to leave port without unloading their cargo and this was a key factor that led to the Boston Tea Party. |
| | Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, "A Patriot's History of the United States" (Sentinel 2007) | | Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, "A Patriot's History of the United States" (Sentinel 2007) |