Before the Tea Act- 1770 (Repeal of Townshend Acts)
Colonist- Britain got rid of the Townshend Act except for the tax on tea.
That is the only one that they left. There is no way we are going to pay this
tax. We will smuggle in foreign tea without paying the tax. Then we can
sell it to colonists ourselves. British tea is too expensive with the tax.
Sam Adams- I have made a great deal of money by smuggling tea into the
colonies. I smuggle it in after paying a low price and then sell it to the
colonists for a little bit more than I paid. They all buy this tea from me
because the British tea is being taxed.
East India Tea Company- Dear King, I would like to ask you to get rid of
the tax on tea in the colonies. The colonists have been boycotting our tea
because they don’t want to pay the tax. They are smuggling in foreign tea
and selling it. As a result, we have not made any money and will be forced
to close down if you don’t get rid of the tax.
King George III- I do not want my East India Tea Company to go out of
business so I will help them by passing the Tea Act. This act will lower the
tax on tea and eliminate the “middle man” so the East India Company can
sell tea to the colonists cheaper than it has ever been before.
Responses to Boston Tea Party/Coercive Acts
Merchant from East India Tea Company- “I can’t believe the colonists
wasted all of our tea. That was our property. We were doing them a favor
by lowering the taxes on tea. It was cheaper for them to buy and they went
and threw it in the Harbor. I hope they pay for this.”
Ben Franklin- “I think that those people who dumped the tea into the
harbor need to come up with the money. There was no need for that. The
colonists who did that are showing no loyalty to our British government.
They need to have respect for the crown.”
Colonial Merchant- “I am not able to make any money because that darn
King closed off the Boston Harbor. How am I supposed to work when I
can’t even leave the dock. They are trying to make us poor, and I feel
enough is enough. It is time for a rebellion. Our government is not
protecting our rights.”
First Continental Congress
Paul Revere- “We need to fight back now. I think we need to organize our
own army of colonists. What Britain is doing to us is evil. They should not
be able to tax us without proper representation. They have committed evil
acts and are trying to make us poor. The coercive Acts are trying to enslave
Americans!”
Colonist- “I think we need to write another letter to the King telling him that
closing the Boston Harbor is hurting our economy. We need to beg him to
take away the Coercive Acts. We have to tell him that no more British
soldiers are needed. I think we are all forgetting that we are citizens of
Great Britain and we need to remember to be loyal to the crown.”