Preview – Tea Act/Boston Tea Party
Tea Act
The Tea Act was a 1773 Act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India
Company. In other words, American colonists could buy no tea unless it came
from that company. Why? Well, the East India Company wasn't doing so well,
and the British wanted to give it some more business. The Tea Act lowered the
price on this East India tea so much that it was way below tea from other
suppliers. But the American colonists saw this law as yet another means of
"taxation without representation" because it meant that they couldn't buy tea
from anyone else (including other colonial merchants) without spending a lot
more money. Their response was to refuse to unload the tea from the ships. This
was the situation in Boston that led to the Boston Tea Party.
1. What was the purpose of the Tea Act?
2. Did this increase or decrease the tension between the colonists and the
British government? Explain.
HBO – John Adams
Lesson 1.5, Preview
Episode One
M. Frank - 2008
Boston Tea Party
Angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea, American colonists calling themselves
the Sons of Liberty and disguised as Mohawk Native Americans boarded three
British ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and dumped 342
whole crates of British tea into Boston harbor on December 16, 1773. Similar
incidents occurred in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey in the next few
months, and tea was eventually boycotted throughout the colonies.
1. What do you think the colonist hoped to accomplish with the Boston Tea
Party?
2. Why were boycotts effective?
Information source: www.socialstudiesforkids.com
HBO – John Adams
Lesson 1.5, Preview
Episode One
M. Frank - 2008