Tea Act
What year was the Tea Act?
1773
What year were the Intolerable Acts?
1774
What was the main purpose of the Tea Act of 1773?
The Tea Act was designed to make English tea marketable in America by allowing the British East India Company to sell tea at a lower price than competitors.
What were the Intolerable Acts, and why were they passed?
The Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.
How did the colonists interpret the tea shipments under the Tea Act?
Colonists saw the tea shipments as a symbol of taxation tyranny, fearing that accepting the tea would set a precedent for future tax abuses.
What measures did the Intolerable Acts include?
They closed the port of Boston, altered the Massachusetts charter to increase royal control, removed colonists’ ability to hold trials against British officials in the colonies, and required colonists to house British soldiers.
What role did the Sons of Liberty play in resisting the Tea Act?
The Sons of Liberty rallied colonial resistance through petitions, assemblies, propaganda, and sometimes violence against British officials, helping unify opposition to British policies.
How did the colonists respond to the Intolerable Acts?
Colonists boycotted British goods, organized the First Continental Congress, and received aid from other colonies, which strengthened unity against Britain.
What major event resulted from colonial resistance to the Tea Act?
The Boston Tea Party in December 1773, where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor, became a defining act of protest that escalated tensions and pushed the colonies closer to war.
What was the broader impact of the Intolerable Acts on the colonies?
Instead of isolating Massachusetts, the Acts unified the colonies, set the stage for the American Revolution, and fueled resistance to British authority.