Page 32 - All About History - Issue 19-14
P. 32

Bluffer’sGuide                                   AMERICA, 1773


        TheBoston Tea Party











                                                                               What was it?

                                                                               The Boston Tea Party was a
                                                                               protest that set America on
                                                                               the road to revolution and
                                                                               independence. Demonstrators
                                                                               boarded British ships in Boston

                                                                               Harbour and threw their
                                                                               cargo of tea into the water, in
                                                                               response to the Tea Act of 1773,
          When was it?                                                         which stated that colonists

          TheTeaPartytookplaceontheeveningof                                   would still have to pay tax on
          16 December 1773. Demonstrators streamed                             the drink. The response of the
          outofapublicmeeting,whereoneof
          America’s Founding Fathers, Samuel Adams,                            British government was harsh.
          was the main speaker, and made the short                             Tensions escalated, leading to
          trip to Boston Harbour. The underlying
          problems that led to the protest had been                            rebellion and war.
          simmeringfornearlyadecade.






























         Who was involved?

         The protesters were known as the Sons of Liberty, a secret society
         formed to protect the rights of American colonists against the
         British government. It was not a coherent group, rather a loose
         label for anybody who opposed the excesses of British rule and                                       The Boston Tea Party
         was prepared to do something about it.                                                             would eventually lead to
                                                                                                            American independence


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