The Boston Tea Party was an event that happened on December 16th, 1773. It was a response to the Tea Act of 1773, which granted the right to ship tea directly to the colonies without a middleman. To the colonists, the Tea Act was a direct action of taxation tyranny because it caused the price of tea to go down and avoided the Townshend duties.

The night of December 16th, 1773, The Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians and boarded three docked English boats. Exactly 432 chests of tea were thrown into the ocean as protest of the Tea Act and taxation. This was viewed as a direct attack, and the British responded as such.

They passed the Intolerable Acts (also known as the Coercive Acts) in 1774. This restricted Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for, restricting and revoking Massachusetts’ charter, and allowing British troops to be sheltered in colonists’ homes. This only increased tensions, leading to the first Congressional Congress and eventually the American Revolution.