A Time for Tea

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On December 16, 1773, the scale of tolerance tipped to the lowest level possible in the Colonies. Because of Great Britain’s involvement in the French and Indian War, Great Britain accumulated a large amount of debt owed to the East-India Company. As an attempt to reduce its debt, Great Britain imposed many acts of taxation on the Colonies. Great Britain viewed the Colonies key to repay its debt. One of the significant acts imposed by Great Britain was the Townshend Acts. This particular act placed taxes on imported materials such as glass, lead, paint, and most importantly, tea. Tea was the most popular drink in the Colonies. A tax on tea angered many of the Colonists. The Colonists were constantly rebelling through boycotts and smuggling materials into the Colonies. The Colonists felt that the Townshend Acts were the last straw. Men, who felt they were taxed unfairly by Great Britain, created an organization called the Sons of Liberty. This group of men helped organize many rebellions, boycotts, and helped smuggle imported tax-free materials. Leaders of the Sons of Liberty lead a group of two hundred colonists on to the East-India Company’s ships. Within four hours of being on the ships, the men had dumped over 324 barrels of tea into the Boston Harbor. This event is now known as The Boston Tea Party. At the time, the Colonists were unaware that this day would lead the Colonies, towards making the profound decision to go to war with their mother country. The Boston Tea Party caused British retribution by reducing Colonists’ resources, restructuring government, and forcing reimbursement of goods.

As a result of the Boston Tea Party, Great Britain accumulated additional debt from the revolt and imposed many ...

... middle of paper ...

... clearer to most of the Colonists that becoming independent, was the most favored choice. Thus, the Boston Tea Party lead to the most important decision the Colonists would ever make in their time period.

Works Cited

Carp, Benjamin. Defiance of the Patriots the Boston Tea Party & the Making of America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. 192-194. Print

Findling, John, and Thackeray Frank. Events that Changed America in the Eighteenth Century. WestPort, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. 82-83. Print.

Fryatt, Norma. Boston and the Tea Riots. Canada: Book Center, Inc., 1972. 96. Print.

Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries A New History of the Invention of America. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , 2010. 46. Print.

"Thomas Gage: Colonial America, 1721-1787." United States History. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar 2011. .

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