Historical Perspective
In 1773, Britain was in control of the thirteen colonies in the “New World”, or what we now refer to as America. Britain had finished with the French and Indian War in 1963, which was quite expensive, and so to raise revenue for Britain, King George III decided to tax the colonies. He believed that since the war took place in the New World, the colonies were indebted to Britain and should be responsible for helping to pay the expenses of the war (Steele, 2002). First, the Stamp Act in 1765 made it to where the colonists had to pay taxes for stamps. These stamps were required by law for practically every piece of paper. The Townshend Acts, which aggravated the colonists even further, were introduced in 1767 (Kindig, 2011).
The Townshend Acts consisted of four acts passed by the British parliament. The Suspending Act made it impossible for the New York Assembly to do any business until they met their requirements financially from the Quartering Act of 1765, which consisted of stationing British troops in New York. It cost money to have all the troops stationed in New York, and New York was required to pay that cost. The next act, which was often referred to as the Townshend duties, consisted of revenue taxes, which went straight to Britain and their treasury. They were taxes on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea, all things that were important to the colonists. The third made matters even worse. It allowed the British to do searches and seizures of customs without really having to say why (Encyclopædia, 2012). Finally, the fourth act “lifted commercial duties on tea,
allowing it to be exported to the colonies free of all British taxes (Encyclopædia, 2012).” The main issue with the Townshend acts was that it took rights away from the colonies, especially their “freedom” to self-govern and tax things on their own. The passing of the Townshend Acts lead to a lot of boycotts by the colonists, as well as even more disdain for the British parliament (Encyclopædia, 2012).
Making matters even worse, in 1770, there was an unfortunate incident that would forever be known as the Boston Massacre, where shots were fired by British soldiers into a very rowdy crowd, killing five colonists. The British soldiers were originally sent to the colonies after the passing of the Townshend Acts because the colonists were becoming unruly and Britain believed they needed to be put in their place. As one could imagine, the Boston Massacre was a huge deal, and only made tensions between American colonists and the British government even worse ("Boston massacre historical," 2008).
One would assume that after five American colonists were killed in the Boston Massacre, that would be the time to help spark a revolution, but surprisingly, the last straw was the British messing with their tea. On May 10th, 1773, the Tea act was passed, which gave the struggling British East India Company the right to become a monopoly on tea for the American colonies. It did not consist of any more taxes, in fact it was a little bit of a tax relief, but it affected the colonial merchants and took business away from them because the British East India Company could offer tea at a cheaper cost than merchants could. Taking business away from the local merchants in the colonies was the last straw. How could the British government really care about their colonies if they treated them so poorly and took away business that their own colonists so desperately needed in order to make ends meet? Also, buying tea from the East India Company would show Britain that it was okay to tax the colonists, and to the colonists, it was clearly not okay This is the moment when the colonists decided to no longer let the British government walk all over them, and the plan for the destruction of the tea began (Steele, 2002).
The Townshend Acts consisted of four acts passed by the British parliament. The Suspending Act made it impossible for the New York Assembly to do any business until they met their requirements financially from the Quartering Act of 1765, which consisted of stationing British troops in New York. It cost money to have all the troops stationed in New York, and New York was required to pay that cost. The next act, which was often referred to as the Townshend duties, consisted of revenue taxes, which went straight to Britain and their treasury. They were taxes on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea, all things that were important to the colonists. The third made matters even worse. It allowed the British to do searches and seizures of customs without really having to say why (Encyclopædia, 2012). Finally, the fourth act “lifted commercial duties on tea,
allowing it to be exported to the colonies free of all British taxes (Encyclopædia, 2012).” The main issue with the Townshend acts was that it took rights away from the colonies, especially their “freedom” to self-govern and tax things on their own. The passing of the Townshend Acts lead to a lot of boycotts by the colonists, as well as even more disdain for the British parliament (Encyclopædia, 2012).
Making matters even worse, in 1770, there was an unfortunate incident that would forever be known as the Boston Massacre, where shots were fired by British soldiers into a very rowdy crowd, killing five colonists. The British soldiers were originally sent to the colonies after the passing of the Townshend Acts because the colonists were becoming unruly and Britain believed they needed to be put in their place. As one could imagine, the Boston Massacre was a huge deal, and only made tensions between American colonists and the British government even worse ("Boston massacre historical," 2008).
One would assume that after five American colonists were killed in the Boston Massacre, that would be the time to help spark a revolution, but surprisingly, the last straw was the British messing with their tea. On May 10th, 1773, the Tea act was passed, which gave the struggling British East India Company the right to become a monopoly on tea for the American colonies. It did not consist of any more taxes, in fact it was a little bit of a tax relief, but it affected the colonial merchants and took business away from them because the British East India Company could offer tea at a cheaper cost than merchants could. Taking business away from the local merchants in the colonies was the last straw. How could the British government really care about their colonies if they treated them so poorly and took away business that their own colonists so desperately needed in order to make ends meet? Also, buying tea from the East India Company would show Britain that it was okay to tax the colonists, and to the colonists, it was clearly not okay This is the moment when the colonists decided to no longer let the British government walk all over them, and the plan for the destruction of the tea began (Steele, 2002).
Article from Massachusetts Spy
(Edwards, 2009)