American History Essays Boston Tea Party -- American America History

Boston Tea Party: A Fight for Freedom Imagine you are a merchant in Boston selling imported goods from England with a high tax on them, when three ships come in with 342 chests of tea without planning to pay the middleman tax. That's how it was for many merchants in Boston. The East India Tea Company went bankrupt due to the dropping rate of tea sales in America because of the increasing rate of smuggling. The government's lack of support, and the newly passed Tea Act, only kindled more resentment towards the British from the colonists. This finally resulted in approximately three groups of fifty men going aboard the three British ships and dumping the tea into the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was more an act towards self-government and displaying their rights rather a way to gain revenge at England. The West India Tea Company found themselves bankrupt due to the amount of smuggled tea America was buying. People were buying smuggled tea because it was so much cheaper than the tea England was forcing them to buy. The company's plan was to select three major cities in America to get rid of their competition. They would hire other handlers in Philadelphia, Charleston, and New York. By having the tea sold in America, they could avoid the high taxes of England. After they had eliminated their other competitors, they would charge much more for the tea that they were selling (Francis 1). When the colonists heard that the East India Company was selling tea to these cities, almost all of them were furious and wanted England to be aware of it. The patriots worried that they would start liking England because of the better tea prices (Maier 516). Soon tea was shipped to America for distribution to agents of the company, who ... ...me of need, and the passing of the Tea Act only created more resentment and created more resentment towards England. The citizens were feeling that they had no more rights left, and that England was completely taking over their new country so they acted in what has been called the Boston Tea Party. The colonists were outraged by the disrespect they were shown from England. It was only an act towards freedom, not revenge and should be treated as such. Works Cited Tyler, John. "The Boston Tea Party." (Online) Available http://aol/bostonteaparty.html "Boston Tea Party." Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnall's Corporation, 1996. Maire, Pauline. "Boston Massacre." World Book Encyclopedia. 1982. Francis, Thomas. Liberty. New York: North American Printing Company, 1993. Fleming, Wyatt. "The Revolution." (Online) Avaialble http://usa.revolution/