The Boston Tea PartyB. Scott Tucker

Tea Trade of 1767• 17th century Europeans developed a

taste for tea that led rival companies to import the product from the East Indies.

• English Parliament gave the East India Co. a monopoly to import the tea in 1698.

• Until 1767 The EIC paid 25% tax on tea imported into Great Britain. Parliament added extra tax on top of that making tea very expensive.

• Dutch government did not place a tax on the tea, which led to the smuggling of tea into Great Britain costing the EIC profit.

• Parliament passed Townshend Revenue Act passed in 1767 that levied new taxes, including one on tea in the colonies.

Tea Act of 1773• Colonists, known as Whigs,

objected to the new taxes, arguing it was a violation of the British Constitution.

• Colonists responded with protests and boycotts. Activists in New England promoted alternatives such as Labrador tea.

• The Tea Act of 1773 was passed by parliament, that allowed for the first time for the East India Company to bypass the middle man and sell directly to the colonies.

Destruction of the Tea• On Dec. 16, 1773 a group

of 30-130 men, some of them thinly disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three vessels, and over a course of 3 hours dumped all 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

• The Boston Tea Party proved to be one of the many reactions that led to the American Revolutionary War.