Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

The night of December 16, 1773, marked the day of the “midnight raid” which included the dumping of tea into the Boston Harbor as a sign of protest. Many factors came into play that lead to this event such as, the ridiculous taxes implemented by the Parliament, including the Sugar, Stamp, and the Tea Act. Tension had also been growing between the citizens of the colonies and the British redcoats that were stationed there at the time. All of these acts forced the colonists to pay excess money for everyday items like tea, paper, and sugar etc. The colonists believed that they were being deprived of their freedom and rights, so they rebelled against the Parliament by performing an event that would hurt the British economy. This

This act was directly meant to punish the people of Boston, along with two of the other four acts. These punitive laws would be called the Intolerable Acts by the American Patriots because some of the demands were almost unbearable.

Following the act that closed the Boston Harbor, the parliament passed two more acts to secure their jurisdiction over the colonies on May 20, 1774. These acts would limit the freedom of the colony of Massachusetts and increase the power of the royal governor appointed there. As the colonists grew more and more frustrated, the Parliament wouldn’t stop and would pass two more acts. These were a little different than the past acts because the past ones specifically focused on punishing the people of Boston. The last two acts affected the colonies as a whole and one stated that any member of the British army could stay at a colonial household and expect to be provided with food, shelter, and other resources. The last of the Intolerable Acts was meant to give religious freedom to Roman Catholics and to earn their loyalty if the colonies were to ever rebel

On this day, the American militia and the British army exchanged the first bullets of the revolution and resulted in a victory of the confident colonies. This all started from the general of the Regular army, Thomas Gage, who had a plan to capture the leaders of the colonial rebellion and capture the enemy’s weapons and ammunition by marching through two cities. This plan would start out in Lexington, where the leaders were staying and continue towards Concord, where the weapons were stationed. Unfortunately for the British, this plan was leaked due to the bravery of Paul Revere and other riders who informed the colonists and leaders, Hancock and Adams, about the arrival of the Redcoats, the night before. This eventually led to the safety of John Hancock and Samuel Adams and allowed the militiamen to prepare for the