Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party, an anti-colonial incident which took place in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in 1773. A group of American colonists dressed as American Indians boarded three British ships in Boston harbour and threw the cargoes of tea into the water. Their actions were a protest against the tax on imported tea imposed by the British government, in which they had no representation.

Protest in 1773 by colonists in Massachusetts, USA, against the tea tax imposed on them by the British government before the American Revolution.

When a valuable consignment of tea (belonging to the East India Company and intended for sale in the American colonies) arrived in Boston Harbor, it was thrown overboard by a group of Bostonians disguised as American Indians during the night of 16 December 1773. The British government, angered by this and other colonial protests against British policy, took retaliatory measures in 1774, including the closing of the port of Boston.