The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a raid on tea-bearing ships that happened in 1773. This event was perpetrated by the Sons of Liberty against the East India Company because of the rising tea taxes implemented by the British. This was another event that contributed to the initiation of the Revolutionary War.
During the night of December the 16th, 1773, a strange sight could be seen in the docks of Boston. 50 men dressed up as Mohawk Indians boarded a tea-laden ship and destroyed all the tea on board. Many people watched the proceedings, some tried to steal tea but were found and harangued by the men destroying it.
The next day, some tea was found floating in the harbor, and the colonists went out in boats to slap the teabags with paddles, preventing the British from reclaiming their property and the colonists from stealing.
As a result of the Boston Tea Party, the British government enacted four laws, called the Coercive Laws (the colonists called them the Intolerable Acts), to punish the Americans for rebelling.
The laws were:
- The Boston Harbor would be closed until the East India Company was repaid in full for the loss of their tea.
- All imperial officers charged for capital offenses would be sent to England for judgement.
- The Massachusetts Governor's power was increased, the authority of town meetings was decreased and officers were subject to royal appointment.
- All American citizens were required to house British soldiers when necessary.
