Illustration of tea being thrown overboard on a ship during Boston Tea Party

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Tea. Taxes. Revolution.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Boston Tea Party helped spark the war for America’s independence. 

November 20, 2023
By Rebecca Zissou

As You Read, Think About: How did the Boston Tea Party affect America? 

On a cold December night 250 years ago, Joshua Wyeth quietly made his way to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts. The 15-year-old risked being arrested or possibly even killed for what he was about to do. Joshua was part of a sneak attack on three ships docked in the harbor. The goal was to destroy the ships’ precious cargo: tea. 

Under the cover of darkness, Joshua and about 100 other Patriots smashed open more than 300 chests of tea and dumped them into the water.

That protest became known as the Boston Tea Party. It changed the course of American history.

What You Need to Know About the American Revolution
Watch a video to learn more about how the United States came to be.

Trouble Brewing

At the time, Massachusetts was one of the 13 Colonies ruled by Great Britain. Anger had been brewing in the Colonies for years. In the 1760s, the British passed a series of taxes on certain goods. The colonists were forced to pay extra fees on items such as sugar, paper, and tea. Many colonists were outraged. After all, they had no representatives in the British government. Their rallying cry became “No taxation without representation!”

To protest the taxes, many Patriots refused to buy British goods. One boycott hit the British especially hard—the one on tea from Britain’s East India Company. Most colonists had begun drinking tea smuggled in from other countries instead. 

The colonists drank 1.2 million pounds of tea each year.

Source: Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

As a result, the company was losing a lot of money. So in May 1773, Britain passed the Tea Act. It allowed the East India Company to sell its tea in the Colonies at very low prices. The British hoped the law would encourage colonists to buy the cheaper British tea. But it didn’t change the colonists’ minds. They saw the Tea Act as yet another way for Britain to control them.

Overboard!

Later that fall, three ships carrying tea from the East India Company arrived in Boston Harbor. A group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty demanded that the ships leave without unloading the tea. But weeks went by, and the ships remained in the harbor. 

On December 16, Joshua and other Patriots sprang into action. Wearing disguises, they climbed aboard the three ships. They hauled up chest after chest of tea from below deck. Using axes, they smashed the chests to pieces and threw them into the water.

“I never labored harder in my life,” Joshua recalled years later. 

In less than three hours, the colonists had destroyed about 92,000 pounds of tea.

No Turning Back

The British were furious. To punish the colonists, Britain passed a series of harsh laws known as the Coercive Acts. One law closed the Port of Boston until colonists paid for the destroyed tea. That prevented food and other goods from entering the city. Historian Benjamin Carp says the Coercive Acts were the final straw.

“The laws inspired the Colonies to seriously reconsider their relationship to Great Britain,” he explains. “They said, ‘Enough is enough.’”

Soon, there was no way to avoid war. In April 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired near Boston. Joshua joined the fighting that summer.

Six years later, the colonists defeated the British—and went on to form the United States.

The Fight for Freedom

Here are some key moments on the road to independence. 

1775: On April 19, the first shots of the American Revolution are fired at Lexington and Concord, two villages near Boston. 

1776: Representatives from the Colonies approve the Declaration of Independence on July 4. It announces that the Colonies are no longer under British rule. 

1781: The last major battle of the Revolution is fought at Yorktown, Virginia. British General Cornwallis surrenders on October 19. 

1783: The U.S. and Britain sign a peace agreement, called the Treaty of Paris. The United States is officially its own nation.

1. Based on the article, what were colonists hoping to accomplish by destroying tea during the Boston Tea Party?

2. What did colonists mean by the rallying cry “No taxation without representation!”?

3. What is the meaning of the expression “the final straw”? What was the final straw for colonists?

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