The Boston Tea Party and its Impact
To Create Independence in the Colonies
David Shiling
HIS 121: U.S. History to 1865
Wills-Keely
11/14/18
Before America was an independent nation, they were under British rule. In the early 1760’s, Britain’s national debt almost doubled due to their increasing debt caused by their tremendous efforts in to winning the French and Indian War. Due to this growing issue, British Parliament decided to impose several taxes on the colonies in order to help relinquish their debt. It began with the Sugar Act of 1764, where they taxed the colonies on importation of sugar and molasses, and then with the Stamp Act of 1765, where they taxed citizens in the colonies to use stamps on many documents, and to the point where they began taxing glass, lead, paint, paper and tea that were imported to the colonies, which were known as the Townshend Acts of 1767. This was a breaking point in the colonies, and it “would prove to be the decisive set of taxes that would incite Americans to rebel and declare independence.” Although Thomas Jefferson believed the Revolutionary War was caused to end the reign of tyranny, further research suggests that the Boston Tea Party was the culminating point to create cohesion between the colonies to gain independence.
Many of the taxes were absurd ways for the British to relieve themselves of their debt and repay people who they needed to after the war, specifically the East India Company. When Britain created these taxes- the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Acts, and many other acts, it was, in their idea, to save the British Empire, even though the colonies wanted to also be saved. With the Tea Act, the goal of British Parliament was to aid the East India Company and gain them more money. The goal of the act was to remove the middleman, American merchants, which upset the colonists since the merchants were going out of business which caused them to not be able to get certain necessary goods. This would then allow for the East India Company sell directly to retailers in order to save money by not paying the taxes of the merchants, which in turn allowed them to be the leading retailer in tea. This created a large divide between the colonies and Britain since America did not want to be charged for these useless taxes unless they had representation within their Parliament. There was a growing division within the colonies towards the British, and it caused the Parliament take steps to establish imperial authority over the colonies so that they would not be able to revolt over the British. After these ludicrous actions, the colonists felt it was time to take control and revolt to show the British that they are able to represent and control themselves. The first step was that they do not buy tea from the East India Company, but rather smuggle it from the Dutch. After the British passed the Tea Act of 1773, it allowed the East India Company to be the leading retailer of tea since colonists had to pay large sums of taxes to the Dutch for smuggling in the tea. Some famous smugglers included Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere, who were a group of merchants who founded the Sons of Liberty to protest the Tea Act and other acts set by Parliament. The Sons of Liberty protested about the ship Dartmouth being ported in Boston carrying all the tea from the East India Company. The Sons of Liberty attempted to sway the people on their side to help protest the tea taxes. After they rallied the people behind them, they agreed to not pay any of the taxes of the tea and demand it not be unloaded and have it sent back to Britain, which is where the fight with Parliament and the colonies began.
Later that evening, several patriots in the Sons of Liberty devised a plan to dump almost $20,000 worth of tea in to the Boston Harbor. In a meeting led by Hancock and Adams, they declared to the people that they must “let every man do what is right in his own eyes.” The protestors in the meeting decided that they would dress as Mohawk Indians, and march out to Griffin’s Wharf where they would board Dartmouth, and its sister ships which also carried tea, Beaver and Eleanor.