The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government in the decade leading up to the American Revolutionary War (1775-83).
When was the tea tax passed?
On April 27, 1773 , the British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade.
What was the tax on tea in 1776?
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.
Was tea still taxed after the Boston Tea Party?
The Tea Act: The Catalyst of the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. ... Due to boycotts and protests, the Townshend Revenue Act’s taxes were repealed on all commodities except tea in 1770 .
Why was the tea tax considered unfair?
The colonists resisted the new tax, arguing that only their own elective colonial assemblies could tax them , and that “taxation without representation” was unjust and unconstitutional.
What was Lord North’s tea policy?
The Act granted the Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, although the tax imposed by the Townshend Acts and collected in the colonies remained in force. It received the royal assent on May 10, 1773.
What did the Boston Tea Party lead to?
The Boston Tea Party was the first significant act of defiance by American colonists. The implication and impact of the Boston Tea Party was enormous ultimately leading to the sparking of the American Revolution which began in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.
What is the difference between an excise tax and a sales tax?
Sales tax applies to almost anything you purchase while excise tax only applies to specific goods and services. Sales tax is typically applied as a percentage of the sales price while excise tax is usually applied at a per unit rate.
What happened during the Boston Tea Party?
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. 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.
Why the Boston Tea Party was important?
The Boston Tea Party was a raid that took place in the Boston Harbor in 1773, during which American colonists dumped shiploads of tea into the water to protest a British tax on tea. This event was important because it fueled the tension that had already begun between Britain and America .
Why were the colonists angry after the Tea Act?
American colonists were outraged over the tea tax. They believed the Tea Act was a tactic to gain colonial support for the tax already enforced . The direct sale of tea by agents of the British East India Company to the American colonies undercut the business of colonial merchants.
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 .
Did Dutch smugglers provoke the Boston Tea Party?
Atlantic smugglers trading with the Dutch and other European nations, as much as any Boston merchant, politician, or shoemaker, created the conditions for the Boston Tea Party and helped provoke it.
What was the cause and effect of the Boston Tea Party?
Boston Tea Party
All the colonists dressed up as Indians and snuck on-board the British ships in the harbor. Then they threw all the tea on the ships into Boston Harbor. Cause: The colonists were upset by the Tea Act . Effect: The Intolerable Acts were passed to keep the colonists under control.
Why did the British tax the colonists?
Britain also needed money to pay for its war debts. The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies . They decided to require several kinds of taxes from the colonists to help pay for the French and Indian War. ... They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens.
Was destroying the tea a big deal?
Samuel Adams did later say that it was the act of people defending their rights and not the act of an angry mob. It was just tea, what’s the big deal? It actually was a lot of tea. The 342 containers totaled 90,000 pounds of tea!
