In the second half of the 18th century, the struggle of the North American colonies of Great Britain for their independence intensified. As part of a campaign aimed at undermining the colonial economy, the British government decided to give the East India Company the right to import tea into North America without duties. This decision was followed by an action that has received in history the name "Boston Tea Party".
The start of the protest in Boston
The inhabitants of the North American colonies of England were extremely unhappy with the taxes and duties that their overseas metropolis established for their distant possessions. The immediate cause of the next conflict was a sharp change in the price of tea imported into North America by the British East India Company.
In December 1773, three merchant ships of the East India Company moored in the port of Boston, loaded to the brim with tea. A group of Americans protested, demanding that the unloading of the goods be canceled and returned to Britain. The owners of the vessels agreed with this formulation of the question. But the governor of the British colony imposed a ban on the return of ships until Boston pays the fee.
The illegal actions of the colonial administration caused widespread protest and indignation of the city residents.
Near one of the largest buildings in Boston, at least seven thousand people gathered, indignant at the actions of the British administration. The leader of the outraged people Samuel Adams called on patriotic supporters to take active actions that would help save the country from the illegal actions of the British authorities. The patriotic group that became the nucleus of the protest is known as the Sons of Freedom.
How was the "Boston Tea Party"
On December 16, members of the "Sons of Freedom" association dressed in the national costumes of the Indians, armed with clubs and axes, and then made their way aboard the ships laden with tea, frozen in Boston harbor. Within a few hours, activists of the protest movement emptied the holds of all three ships. More than three hundred boxes of tea, the total weight of which was no less than forty-five tons, were thrown overboard.
The boxes of tea, which were randomly floating around the water area of the port, turned the harbor into one giant "cup", which was the reason for the name of the action - "Boston Tea Party".
As a sign of solidarity with the action in Boston, many residents of the North American colonies for some time refused to drink tea that had arrived from England. The "tea party" arranged by the indignant colonists greatly frightened the British administration, after which the authorities were forced to make a number of concessions regarding taxes and fees levied on the colonists.
The daring Boston Tea Party sparked enthusiasm among the colonists, who realized that by active action they could influence the policies of the colonial authorities. The protest action of the residents of Boston became one of the key events in the development of the struggle of the colonies for their independence. After some time, the crisis between the colonies and England escalated, which led to the revolution and the war of independence that followed.
