In history of American Revolution Boston Tea Party was an act by angry American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed around forty five tons of tea loaded on the ships of British East India Company in the waters of Boston Harbor. The reason behind this act was tax policy of British Government for American Colonies. French and Indian war was costly for the British Empire. British Government looked at American Colonies as a way of recouping the war costs by taxing them heavily which made people angry.

The Stamp act of 1765 and Townshend act of 1767 made colonists unhappy with British Government as with the help of these acts British Government imposed direct taxes on the Americans without any representation. Because of this tax Americans would have to pay three cents extra for each pound of the British imported tea. American merchants replied the British Government by smuggling the tea from Holland without paying any tax. This left the British East India Company with warehouses full of tea. The company was in danger of going out of business. To save the company from bankruptcy in 1773 British Government passed the tea act which allowed the British East India Company to sell their tea in American colonies without paying any tax and duty so that they can sell their tea cheaper than colonial merchants who were selling smuggled tea from Holland. This act revived the colonial issue of taxation without representation. The anger of American people and merchants was on the peak which resulted as the act of Boston Tea Party. On the evening of December 16, 1773 a group called as sons of liberty went to Boston Harbor and boarded three British ships and dumped the crates of tea into the Harbor. Tea washed up the shores of Boston for weeks.
This made King furious and after this act in 1774 British Government passed a series of acts to punish the culprits of Boston Tea Party and maintain the order of British Empire in the American Colonies. The objective of these acts was to suppress the voice of American people and merchants against British Empire. These acts were called as Intolerable act by American colonists. The first act was passed to close the Boston Port until the East India Company repaid for destroyed tea. This act affected the masses of Boston. By another act British Government brought the control of Massachusetts under British Empire. However the British aimed at maintain the British order in American colonies but this ignited the anger of all American colonies and prepared the background for American Revolution.

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