Boston Tea Party: Cause / Effects/ Repercussions

The Boston Tea Party: December 16, 1773

Cause:

To reduce tensions in the colonies, Parliament repealed almost all of the Townshend Acts. However, it kept the tax on tea. British officials knew that the colonial demand for tea was high despite the boycott. But colonial merchants were smuggling most of this imported tea and paying no duty on it.

     The British East India Company offered Parliament a solution. The company had huge amounts of tea but was not allowed to sell it directly to the colonists. If the company could sell directly to the colonists, it could charge low prices and still make money. Cheaper tea might encourage colonists to stop smuggling. Less smuggling would result in more tax money.

     Parliament agreed and passed the Tea Act in 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonists. Many colonial merchants and smugglers feared that the British East India Company’s cheap tea would put them out of business.

Effects:     

Three ships loaded with tea from the British East India Company arrived in Boston Harbor in 1773. Members of the Sons of Liberty demanded that the ships leave. But the governor of Massachusetts would not let the ships leave without paying the duty. Unsure of what to do, the captains waited in the harbor. 

     On the night of December 16, 1773, colonists disguised as Indians sneaked onto the three tea-filled ships. After dumping over 340 tea chests into Boston Harbor, the colonists headed home to remove their disguises. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party. Soon the streets echoed with shouts of “Boston harbour is a teapot tonight!”

Repercussions:

The Intolerable Acts

Lord North, the new British prime minister, was furious when he heard about the Boston Tea Party. Parliament decided to punish Boston. In the spring of 1774 itpassed the Coercive Acts. Colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts. The acts had several effects.

1.	Boston Harbor was closed until Boston paid for the ruined tea.
2.	Massachusetts’s charter was canceled. The governor decided if and when the legislature could meet.
3.	Royal officials accused of crimes were sent to Britain for trial. This let them face a more friendly judge and jury.
4.	A new Quartering Act required colonists to house British soldiers.
5.	The Quebec Act gave a large amount of land to the colony of Quebec
6.	General Thomas Gage became the new governor of Massachusetts.