Lesson 8: The Tea Act & The Boston Tea Party

Made with Love by: Jenifer Bazzit The Tea Act/Boston Tea Party

The Tea Act was passed by Parliament in 1773. This new tax law was not designed to raise taxes in the colonies. The Tea Act was created to help the East India Company. The company was having great financial difficulty and had 18 million pounds of unsold tea. England allowed the East India Company to ship this tea to the colonies for sale. England gave the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. The fact that England gave the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales infuriated the colonists. When the ships loaded with tea arrived in the colonies, colonists in New York and Philadelphia refused the shipments and sent the ships back to England. In Charleston, the colonists left the tea to rot on the docks. In Boston, the Royal Governor insisted that the ships be allowed to dock. The colonists, however, prevented the ships from unloading. Colonists absolutely refused to pay the taxes on the tea, required by the British government. On the night of December 16, 1773, around 60 colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded the tea ships docked in Boston Harbor and tossed 342 crates of tea into the harbor. They did not do any other damage to the ships. Journals of participants even tell us that the colonists swept up the mess before leaving the ships. As expected, England was furious at this act of colonial rebellion. They passed a series of harsh laws to punish the colonists. These laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts).

Made with Love by: Jenifer Bazzit The Tea Act/Boston Tea Party Question Snapshots, Page 1 Name: ______Date: ______

Instructions: Answer each question on the lines provided.

Why did Parliament create the Tea Act?

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Describe the reactions of colonists in different cities when the East India Tea reached their ports.

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Made with Love by: Jenifer Bazzit The Tea Act/Boston Tea Party Question Snapshots, Page 2

Describe the events on the evening of December 16, 1773.

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Describe the British reaction to the Boston Tea Party.

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Made with Love by: Jenifer Bazzit