What was the Boston Tea Party?

What was the Boston Tea Party?

The Boston Tea Party was the famous incident that sowed the seeds of American War of Independence. The series of events that led to this incident are as follows. Trade in the American colonies was regulated by Great Britain and as such some restrictions were imposed on trade. This led to smuggling by the settlers.

The British tried to reinforce the Navigation Act to control trade, but met with failure. In 1765, the British government passed the Stamp Act according to which all legal documents in America had to have an official stamp. The protest against this by the colonies was so strong that the Act had to be repealed.

In 1767, tax was imposed on tea and other imports to America. Subsequently, most of the taxes were abolished, but the one on tea remained. In 1773, some of the colonists openly demonstrated their objection to this. Dressed up as Red Indians, they boarded British ships in Boston harbour and threw the cases of tea that they carried, into the sea. This incident is known in history as the ‘Boston Tea Party’.