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Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party (1773) was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts. The protest was against the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea at a lower price than that of local merchants, effectively monopolizing the tea trade in the American colonies.
On December 16, 1773, after a series of events and escalating tensions regarding taxation without representation, the protestors, disguised as Mohawk Indians to conceal their identities, boarded three British ships: the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver.
They proceeded to dump 342 chests of tea, valued at about £10,000 (a significant amount of money at that time), into Boston Harbor as a bold act of defiance against British authority.
The event was a pivotal moment in American history, symbolizing the growing discontent with British rule and its taxation policies. It incited harsh retaliatory measures from the British government, including the Intolerable Acts which escalated tensions that eventually led to the American Revolutionary War.
The Boston Tea Party remains a significant event in American history, representing the spirit of resistance and has been referenced in discussions about civil disobedience.