Sons of Liberty dumping chests of tea in Boston harbor.
The Boston Tea Party was a famous act of resistance by the Patriots on 16 December 1773 that was a protest against Great Britain's taxation of tea.
Background[]
In the aftermath of the French and Indian War in 1763, Great Britain owed more than it could pay to its Thirteen Colonies, whose sacrifices were immense. Britain decided to repay its war debts by taxing their colonists on tea, stamps, and other everyday items. Britain was also upset that their Colonists, led especially by William Johnson, expanded far more west than the Proclamation Line on the Appalachians that was declared to end the French and Indian War.
In 1765 the Stamp Act, the first of the "Intolerable Acts", was declared, and the people of Boston were the most-taxed. They rioted against the taxes, and although there were nonviolent protests, some rioters led by Stephane Chapheau ransacked Governor Hutchinson's mansion in retaliation for the taxes. In 1770 rioters in Boston attacked British regulars on King Street in central Boston, and when a shot rang out, the British fired on the crowd. Five Bostonian rebels were killed and seven wounded, and the people of Boston were enraged.
The 1773 Tea Act was passed after the Stamp Act was repealed, and it instead put a high price on English tea. The high tax on tea caused for William Johnson to run a tea smuggling ring, which could help him in buying the Frontier region from the Mohawk. However, the Freemasons and Patriots did not want a tax at all, and Samuel Adams sent his associate Ratonhnhake'ton to blow up the tea in the harbor. Shortly after several tax collectors were reported as murdered in the Boston Harbor. The final move would be to get rid of the last of the tea.
Tea Party[]
Samuel Adams, William Molineux, Stephane Chapheau, Paul Revere, Ratonhnhake'ton, and many other Sons of Liberty militia headed to Griffin's Wharf, where the docked British merchant ships were. The Patriots killed all fifteen British guards and started dumping the tea in the harbor. When the British regulars arrived to put down the unrest, the Patriot militia with muskets fought back against them, and until all 100 chests were dumped in the bay, the redcoats and Americans fought. Many British were killed, and with the destruction of the tea in Boston, the Bostonian people started to riot.
Aftermath[]
The British responded to the Tea Party by closing down Boston Harbor and taking away all arms. If a man carried a firearm or weapon, the watch would be summoned to arrest them.
Meanwhile, William Johnson barely escaped. Ratonhnhake'ton, an enemy of Johnson, had the chance to kill him but thought that he was already defeated. Unfortunately, by early 1774 Johnson had came up with enough money to buy Mohawk lands, so he had to be killed.