The Boston Tea Party was not a protest against a tax increase, but a tax cut that benefited the East India Company. The Sons of Liberty were against being taxed without colonial representation. The protest was initially ignored and the term “Boston Tea Party” was not used until the 1820s.
On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty protested the British Parliament by launching an East India Company shipment of tea into Boston Harbor. But why were they actually protesting? Contrary to popular belief, the British government did not raise the tea tax before the Boston Tea Party.
This historic act of defiance by a group of American settlers was actually due to a tax cut. The East India Company, which held a monopoly on the tea trade, was in financial trouble. To help the company, the British Parliament reduced taxes on shipments to the American colonies. The Sons of Liberty were against being taxed or governed by Parliament without any colonial representation.
Read more about the Boston Tea Party:
The term “Boston Tea Party” wasn’t used until the 1820s. In fact, when it did occur, the protest was generally ignored or looked down upon as an act of vandalism.
It is thought that it took the Sons of Liberty around three hours to unload 340 cases of tea in the port.
The tea destroyed in the protest is said to be worth an estimated $1 million (USD) in the 2010s.
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