The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a huge turning point in American History. It was one of the main events that led up to the American colonists to fight for their freedom and separation from New England and the British crown. Leading up to the Boston Tea Party were several Acts and laws passed by the British Parliament such as The Stamp Act of 1765 and The Tea Act of 1773, which both harshly affected the colonists and caused them to struggle financially. 

After the Tea Act of 1773, a group of anti-British activists called The Sons of Liberty, decided to show Britain their discontent with the Acts. In order to hide their true identity and avoid the severe punishment, The Sons of Liberty decided to dress up as Indians (usually reported to be Mohawks or Narragansetts). On the night of December 16, 1773 the disguised activists boarded the Beaver, Dartmouth and Eleanor and dumped 342 chests of tea (almost 95,000 pounds). Their bold movement spread across the colonies and promoted retaliation for the wrong taxes Britain was imposing. 

In response, King George III was beyond infuriated with the colonists behavior and decided to pass a series of laws and acts to show them that he was still in control and make their existence on the 13 colonies miserable. The Intolerable Acts pushed the colonists to their last straw and about one month after the laws were passed (April 19th, 1775) the colonists banned together and began the American Revolutionary War.

Over 8 years later the American colonists had their victory and the free America was born.