Causes and Impacts of the Boston Tea Party in U.S. History

This essay explores the causes and impacts of the Boston Tea Party in U.S. history. It examines the factors that led to this event and its significance in shaping the future freedom movements against British colonizers. The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that took place in 1773 and marked a turning point in the history of the United States.

Running head: U.S. HISTORY
U.S. History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The aim of the following essay is to determine the factors that are important to
understand the causes and impacts of the Boston Tea Party in the history of United States. It is
considered as one of the game changers in the political history of the United States. The protests
against the policy of the ‘taxation without representation’ had completely enraged the colonists
of United States. This is why the repercussions of this event were huge for the British colonizers
and the Native American colonists. This event had influenced the national ideology in a large
manner.
Thesis Statement: The Boston tea party in 1773 shaped the future freedom movements against
British colonizers in the United States.
The Boston tea party is regarded as one of the most famous events prior to the
independence of the United States. This was completely a political protest that took place on 16th
of December in the year 1773 (Street & Dimaggio, 2015). It took place at Griffin’s Wharf at
Boston in the United States. The American colonists were very much agitated and angry at the
British colonizers as they had imposed the ‘taxation without representation’ in an unethical
manner. In a fit of rage, the American colonists had thrown down 342 chests of British tea into
the harbor. This event was the beginning of a range of events that were coming in the way of the
British colonists. They had understood that the Americans will not take this in the good ways.
This event was succeeded by the fact that American patriots went on to the 13 colonies of the
country to fight for their independence (Skocpol & Williamson, 2016).
The probable reasons of the Boston tea massacre will be explored in this section. The
background of this event says that the British colonists were in deep debt in the 1760s. This is
why the British Parliament had imposed some taxes on the American people so some of their

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debts could be cleared (Street & Dimaggio, 2015). The American people got very much furious
because they had to pay several taxes without having any representation in the Parliament within
their community. However, critics have also said that it was wrong and unethical for the British
colonizers those taxes on the Native Americans and gain the revenue to make up their losses.
According to the critics, the Boston tea party can be regarded as the prelude to the revolutionary
war against Britain (Mason, 2015). The American patriots dumped the tea chests into Pearl
Harbor and British considered this as a very serious offence. The British people came to know
about the event and they got immensely furious, As a result of this, they implemented some Acts
that were not to be tolerated at all (Breen, 2017).
Amidst this situation, the patriots of America began their preparation for the upcoming
revolutions in the country. In fact, the colonists of America were very much angered at the
implementation of these intolerable Acts. This is how the revolutionary war had begun. It
became violent all the more again (Mason, 2015). Violence had succeeded after this event of
Boston tea party to be precise. However, some critics have expressed their opinion that there are
some things that could have been avoided by both sides of the Revolutionary War. Some drastic
steps had been taken and this had resulted in the violent activities of the Revolutionary War. As a
result of this Boston tea party, both the parliament and King George had been enraged. This war
between the American patriots and British colonizers could have been avoided and it could have
been a non-violent war (James, 2014).
Through this Revolutionary War, United States got their independence in 1776. Scholars
have opined that it would have taken far more years for the independence of the country if the
Revolutionary War did not take place (Snodgrass, 2015). The people of 13 colonies in America
found out that they had something to fight for in this scenario. The people who were involved in

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this massacre were called the Sons of Liberty. Soon after they played their part in this event, the
entire American community felt the urge to light the fire in themselves (James, 2014). Thus, the
Boston tea party was a very powerful message that was being sent to the British colonists. This
had indeed changed the entire scenario within the county.
British felt that their dominance was at stake since American patriots became very
furious and they were determined to get rid of this British reign. Apart from that, it was quite
clear that the American patriots would leave no stone unturned to get the freedom from these
people (James, 2014). This was probably the very beginning of the damage that Americans did to
the British people. British went on to create more harsh Acts but Americans were not to be
stopped until they were a free nation. This issue of imposing taxes had been a matter of concern
for many people across America (Snodgrass, 2015). This event had opened their eyes and they
learnt that they should begin to protest to get their rights back. They promised to each other that
they would surely gain their freedom without backing down. So, Boston tea party worked as a
great inspiration for patriotic Americans. After a tough fight, they got their freedom and this
activity of the Americans was turned into success.
On a concluding note, it should be stated that the Boston tea party had worked as the
backbone for the Revolutionary War in USA that led to their independence. This event can really
be called as the turning point in the history. This had changed the entire political scenario of the
country within a very few years. The violent activities between the American patriots and the
British colonizers had resulted in tremendous bloodshed. Therefore, the determination to achieve
the freedom of the country was immense among these patriots. Their dreams were fulfilled
through getting their long desired independence. This turning point of American history changed
the complete game.

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References and Bibliography
Breen, T. H. (2017). “Baubles of Britain”: the American and consumer revolutions of the
eighteenth century. In Colonial America and the Early Republic (pp. 197-228).
Routledge.
Foner, E., & Garraty, J. A. (Eds.). (2014). The reader's companion to American history. HMH.
George, E. (2014). The American Revolution. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.
James, S. (2014). The importance of fairness in tax policy: Behavioral economics and the UK
experience. International Journal of Applied Behavioral Economics (IJABE), 3(1), 1-12.
Mason, B. (2015). The Road to Independence: The Revolutionary Movement in New York,
1773--1777. University Press of Kentucky.
Skocpol, T., & Williamson, V. (2016). The Tea Party and the remaking of Republican
conservatism. Oxford University Press.
Snodgrass, M. E. (2015). Civil Disobedience: An Encyclopedic History of Dissidence in the
United States: An Encyclopedic History of Dissidence in the United States. Routledge.
Street, P., & Dimaggio, A. R. (2015). Crashing the Tea Party: mass media and the campaign to
remake American politics. Routledge.