Mr.

Clay’s Class
American Revolution
licensed under CC BY-NC
February, 2024

I have chosen one event that led up to the

American Revolution. I will be talking about the
Boston Tea Party (1773). This was in response to
the Tea Act patriots dressed as American Indians
and dumped British tea into the Boston Harbor.
The Boston Tea Party was one of the main events
leading to the American Revolution.

BY-SA-NC
Boston Tea Party General Facts
After escalating tension with the British, the
Boston Tea Party was an act of rebellion by
the Sons of Liberty specifically against the
Tea Act of 1773.
The saying, “no taxation without
representation” is a slogan that refers to the
fact that the colonists of the thirteen colonies
felt their rights were being taken away by
the British Parliament because they were
being taxed yet not being represented in
Parliament.
Although Governor Thomas Hutchinson of
Massachusetts opposed the taxing of
Americans, he was ultimately criticized for
not demanding that the tea-carrying ships be
sent back to England without payment.
Angry colonists met at the Old South
Meeting House on the morning the ships
were due in the harbor. They agreed to send
a message to the customs house at the harbor
saying that the ships would not be paid for
the tea.
More Facts
The Massachusetts governor expressed his
anger at the act of the Sons of Liberty and
called it high treason.
The British response to the Boston Tea Party
was a series of acts aimed at punishing the
colonists and restoring order, the first of
which was the Boston Port Act.
The Coercive Acts or Intolerable Acts
followed, causing more protest among the
colonists. These acts took way any and all
self-governing rights of the colonists in
hopes of making an example of
Massachusetts and ending the colonist’s
resistance. Instead, it escalated matters and
resulted in the start of the American
Revolutionary War in 1775.
There is a Boston Tea Party Museum
located in Boston. It houses many artifacts
including an actual tea chest from the
Boston Tea Party.
This event was not dubbed the Boston Tea
Party until the early 1800s before that it was
referred to as the “Destruction of the tea”