In fact, the vessels were built in America and owned by Americans, but the cargo of tea they were carrying from London to Boston was owned by
the British East India Company
. The Beaver and Dartmouth were built and owned by the Rotch's, an affluent Nantucket Quaker family.
Who paid for the tea in the Boston Tea Party?
The news of the Boston Tea Party reached London, England on January 20, 1774, and as a result the British shut down Boston Harbor until all of the 340 chests of
British East India Company tea
were paid for. This was implemented under the 1774 Intolerable Acts and known as the Boston Port Act.
Who owned the tea in the Boston Tea Party?
In fact, the vessels were built in America and owned by Americans, but the cargo of tea they were carrying from London to Boston was owned by
the British East India Company
. The Beaver and Dartmouth were built and owned by the Rotch's, an affluent Nantucket Quaker family.
How much was the tea worth in the Boston Tea Party?
It's estimated that the protestors tossed more than 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. That's enough to fill 18.5 million teabags. The present-day value of the destroyed tea has been estimated at
around $1 million
.
What was the real reason for the Boston Tea Party?
On Dec. 16, 1773
an entire shipment of tea was tossed into Boston Harbor to protest the British Parliament's tax on tea
. This act of protest against taxation without representation escalated into the Great American Revolutionary War for independence from Great Britain.
How many boxes of tea did they dump?
American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped
342 chests
of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists.
How much money was the tea worth in today's dollars?
The damage the Sons of Liberty caused by destroying 340 chests of tea, in today's money, was worth
more than $1,700,000 dollars
. The British East India Company reported £9,659 worth of damage caused by the Boston Tea Party. According to some modern estimates, the destroyed tea could have brewed 18,523,000 cups of tea!
Did the Boston Tea Party pollute the water?
This myth is perpetuated by many historic recreations of the event, but
it doesn't seem to be true
. Most of these crates were too heavy to throw into the water, so the Bostonians chopped them open with axes and dumped the contents overboard.
Did the Boston Harbor taste like tea?
So no, while again, I don't know of anyone drinking the harbor to find out, there isn'
t any particular reason
to believe that the harbor would especially taste like tea, as it would be far too diluted to make much of a change.
How did the British respond to the Boston Tea Party?
The Boston Tea Party caused considerable property damage and infuriated the British government.
Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts of 1774
, which colonists came to call the Intolerable Acts.
How much did the Boston Tea Party waste?
On this evening, Dec. 16, in 1773, dozens of colonists boarded three ships laden with East India Company tea and dumped the entire stock — 45 tons of tea, worth
roughly $1 million in today's economy
— into the harbor to protest Parliament's recent Tea Act.
Did the Boston Tea Party burn the ships?
In addition,
no ships were burned
during the actual Boston Tea Party in December 1773.
How much was the tea tax?
The act granted the EIC a monopoly on the sale of tea that was cheaper than smuggled tea; its hidden purpose was to force the colonists to pay a tax of
3 pennies on every pound of tea
. The Tea Act thus retained the three pence Townshend duty on tea imported to the colonies.
Why didn't the British stopped the Boston Tea Party?
If the tea wasn't unloaded,
customs weren't paid
. And if the ships tried to sail back out of port, Montagu would stop them and charge them with failing to pay customs on their cargo that was due, according to him, because they had already entered port.
Why did the colonists dress up as Mohawks?
The disguise was
mostly symbolic in nature
; they knew they would be recognized as non-Indians. The act of wearing “Indian dress” was to express to the world that the American colonists identified themselves as “Americans” and no longer considered themselves British subjects.
What was a major consequence of the Boston Tea Party?
A major consequence of the Boston Tea Party was
the Coercive Acts passed in 1774
, called the Intolerable Acts by Americans.
