The American Revolution: The Boston Tea Party

In Boston, in the British colony Massachusetts, the inhabitants are irritated. They think that they have to pay too much tax to Great Britain on the other side of the ocean. They also think they are not being allowed to decide how their own colony is being run: almost everything is decided by parliament in London. They want to be represented! No Taxation without Representation!

They shout: No Taxation without Representation No Taxation without Representation No Taxation without Representation in parliament! This will become the colonists’ motto. Britain has been at war against France for seven years and even though they won, it cost a lot. War is expensive, and now Britain needs money. To build up the economy, they decide to raise taxes - both at home and for the colonists living in America.

Not only do the colonists have to pay a lot in taxes, their motherland Great Britain also decides with whom they can trade. They are only allowed to sell their goods to eh, right, Britain and they are only allowed to buy goods from Britain. The colonists are angry and protest furiously. Eventually Britain has to give in and remove taxes and customs fees, but they keep the tax on tea to show that they are in charge. Finally they remove that tax as well, but then it’s too late!

The tax on tea has become a symbol of British oppression. In Boston’s harbour there are three boats full of tea. The Bostonians demand that they sail back to Great Britain; they don’t want to buy British tea! But the man who decides things in the colony of Massachusetts, the governor, is on the British side and says that the tea should be off loaded and sold. There’s a meeting going on in Boston.

It’s led by a man named Samuel Adams. Thousands of people have gathered and they demand that the ships with the tea should leave Boston and go back to Britain. The governor refuses. On the night after the meeting, a group of Boston residents sneak down to the harbor. Some are disguised as indians.

They board the vessels and dump the whole shipload, 342 chests of tea into the water. The name given to this event is The Boston Tea-party. Parliament in London closes the harbour of Boston as punishment. They also remove the limited rights to autonomy that the colonists actually had. The colonists could no longer send or receive goods from the outside world.

Now Britain decides everything, or so they think. The Boston Tea-party is the start of what will become The American revolution. It is not only in the colony of Massachusetts that the colonists are unhappy with Britain. There are thirteen British colonies on America’s east coast, and now the discontent starts to grow in the other twelve. They stop buying - they boycott - British goods, and they make plans to establish an independent country.

The colonists arm themselves. Britain sends more and more military forces to America. The situation is very tense. On April 19th, 1775 the first battle between the colonists and the British forces takes place - in the city of Lexington, Massachusetts.