The Boston Tea Party: Destruction of Private Property or Justified Act of Defiance
Nicolas Sweeney
HIUS 221-B17: Survey of American History I
February 2023 1
Was the Boston Tea Party a justified act against the British as a result of the tea tax, or was it an overreaction? The Boston Tea Party was an event that occurred on December 16, 1773, where American patriots went onto a ship that was carrying tea, and through all the tea into the water. The American patriots did this to protest Britain's news instated tea tax. The Boston Tea
Party was a lot more complex and has a lot more important things to it than most people think, many American colonists had opposing viewpoints about the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston
Tea Party was justified.
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Carp also states that “Dressing up as Indians may have evoked the natives’ political independence from Great Britain, as well as images of ‘the noble savage’ resisting European corruption.” (Carp 1)^2 which is a reason why many colonists disapproved of the Boston Tea
Party, because it upset the Indians, and it caused the British to impose new rules and regulations onto all of the American colonists, which made their lives harder than it already was. Many historians and even Carp think that the Boston Tea Party was “the tipping point of Revolution.”
(Carp 1)^2 which makes sense because some of the colonists started getting tired of all of the taxes and rules that were being imposed onto them by the British, so they started to stand up for themselves. I used to believe that the Boston Tea Party was justified, but after conducting more research about it I now think that it was a good thing that happened, but I think that it caused
The Boston Tea Party was used to prove a point, and it was also a protest. The colonies did not want to be taxed by Britain. What the Patriots Did- On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty and other Patriots disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians to protest against the taxed tea. Some of the Patriots who participated are: Samuel
The Boston Tea Party was one of the most important events in American history. While many might think that the Boston Tea Party was just complaining about taxes, it was truly about the power from King George III and the Parliament. The Boston Tea Party was mainly a protest that was about taxation, but it is truly a political reason because of its power to control the tea companies and the colonists. On December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party occurred.
The British colonists were unsatisfied with the cruel treatment administered by King George. He unfairly began to tax everything imported to the Americas which caused them to suffer in poverty. Because they thought of themselves as citizens, the settlers abhorred the taxations made without their representation in the government. To elucidate their anger, the pioneers dressed up as Indians and threw dozens of barrels filled with tea into the Boston Harbor. Soon after this protest, King George wrongfully closed the Boston port to stop goods from arriving.
After the boycotts and protests the tea had all rotted and could not be used, I know what they did was wrong and thought they could have handled it differently, but they did prove our point. Parliament was not happy and thought that Boston should repay for the lost tea, and put forth four punishments, we like to call them the Intolerable Acts. Since Massachusetts seemed to be the only one being punished a lot of the other colonies realized how corrupt parliament really was. We couldn’t even have town meetings without the approval of the governor and we were under the control of parliament. This alone pushed many of us away from the crown and towards becoming American Patriots.
The Boston Tea Party, an iconic event in American history, played a crucial role in fueling the revolution against British colonial rule. This audacious act of defiance showcased the determination and resolution of American colonists to fight for their rights and liberty. The origins of the Boston Tea Party can be traced back to a series of grievances and tensions between American colonists and the British Crown. The British government, seeking to alleviate the financial burden of the French and Indian War, imposed a series of taxes on the American colonies. One of the most contentious measures was the Tea Act of 1773, which granted a monopoly on tea sales to the British East India Company and eliminated colonial merchants from the tea trade,
The Boston Tea Party is an event that took place at Boston harbor where many colonists, in an act of rebellion, dumped 90,000 pounds of tea leaves into the ocean, costing Great Britain $1.8 million in today’s money (O’Neil 49). This action was very influential on the American Revolution. It let Great Britain know that the colonists weren’t going to let themselves get walked all over. The Boston Tea Party was a crucial cause of the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation, and it occurred because of political, financial, and societal issues. There had already been conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies before the Boston Tea Party took place.
This act was passed for the sole purpose of saving a struggling East India Company. The combination of the Tea Act and pre-existing tax on tea led to an event known as the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party, (which happened in 1773, the same year that the Tea was passed), was an event where millions of dollars of British tea was thrown into the waters of the Boston Harbor. The people of Boston, along with many natives paraded three ships filled with British tea and threw crate after crate of tea into the icy water. Britain reacted by passing the Coercive Acts in 1774, and they aimed to punish America for the Boston Tea Party.
This was a tax the crown used to reduce the tax on tea to encourage the colonists to buy British Tea. The colonists wanted this unreasonable tax completely gone, but all the British did was lower it slightly. The colonists took this as a spit in the face and offensive. This led to the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was an historical event that took place on December 16th, 1773.
This political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston disguised themselves as Native Americans and destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by East India Company. The British government responded harshly which escalated to the American Revolution. This act of civil disobedience was in protest to taxes being imposed on the colonies even though they had visual representation, which in simpler terms meant they had no representation. The colonist saw that the taxes being imposed was unjust, this caused the Boston Tea Party to throw all of the tea that was taxed. In the end of the American Revolution they fought against unjust taxes and improved social progress amongst the
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.
A group of colonists known as Samuel Adams and members of The Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians who boarded three ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. This midnight raid became known as “The Boston Tea Party” which is popularly known in American history. The arrival of these ships Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver spread quickly making the colonist grow angry because they did not want to pay taxes. Although, The Tea Act of 1773 was one of the series of taxes that the inhabitants of the colonies were required to pay, the Tea Act was created to save the West India Company from faltering. Therefore, taxing the colonists was the best alternative way of saving the Company.
The British were taxing the colonists on tea. Even though the tax wasn’t very expensive, the tax went to the British and did not help the colonists. When the colonists found out they protested. Consequently, they protested by dumping 340 tea chests into Boston Harbor. The amount of tea ruined was about 1 million of today's dollars worth.
This new identity initially caused early revolts against Britain for their unfair treatment, creating negative feelings toward the British government. One of theses revolts that was caused by the rise of a new identity was the Boston Tea Party, a direct result of the Tea Act which placed a heavy tax on tea which the colonists believed was unfair. During the Boston Tea Party, more than 100 men disguised as Mohawks boarded a British ship and dumped 45 tons of tea into the harbor. The British government responded with the Intolerable Act, and with this act tensions rose with many colonists demanding better rights. Soon, the colonists realized that they no longer wanted to be under British rule which they believed was tyrannical, oppressive, and unfair; thereby leading to the largest and most influential cause of the rise of a national American identity: the American Revolution itself.
Those who engage in civil disobedience do so knowing that they may be punished for it. In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts’s colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The colonists’ main complaint was that they were not directly represented in the British Parliament. Therefore, any laws the British passed on taxing the colonists were illegal under the British Bill of Rights of 1689. Seemingly, this taxation without representation would render the laws unjust.
On December 16 1773 the Boston tea party happened. The Boston Tea Party was where British Colonist dumped 45 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor to protest against the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773. The colonist were unjustified in doing this, the colonist polluted the water that they fish in, they wasted money, and the British didn’t do that much for the colonist to do that. Some may say that the colonist did this because of the Boston Massacre but, that happened 2 years early, if it was really that big of a deal they would of done it sooner.