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The Boston Tea Party was a carefully planned protest that turned out to play a big part in the American Revolution.

The American colonists were already greatly overtaxed by Great Britain when the Stamp Act of 1765 required all legal documents, newspapers, and
other paper products to carry a tax stamp. The revenue from this tax would help pay the costs of Britain's military presence in the colonies. The enactment of the Townshend Act in 1767 levied taxes on such common items as paper, paint, glass, and tea. This tax was to pay the debt the British incurred during the French and Indian War. The colonists felt it unfair that they should have to pay Britain's debts.

John Hancock had organized a boycott of tea from the East India Tea Company that was so successful that the company's sales were reduced to almost nothing. Smugglers, including Hancock himself, were bringing tea to the colonies without paying the import taxes. Britain proceeded to protect its interest in the tea trade by passing the Tea Act in May, 1773. This act lifted the customs and duties in Britain, which enabled the East India Tea Company to sell their tea at lower prices than the smugglers. Colonists objected to the favor shown to the company because of its influence in Parliament. Protests occurred in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

A group of colonial patriots, called the Sons of Liberty, held a protest meeting on December 16, 1773, at Boston's Old Smith Meeting House. During the meeting, several members of the Sons of Liberty headed to Griffin's Wharf, where the HMS Dartmouth was docked. Disguised as Mohawk Indians, they swiftly brought casks of tea up from the hold, pried them open, and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor.

Britain's response was to close the port, and put in place the Coercive Acts in 1774. Called the Intolerable Acts by colonists promoting revolution,
they included: The Massachusetts Government Act, The Administration of Justice Act, The Boston Port Act, and The Quartering Act.

The Massachusetts Government Act made almost all colonial government positions available by appointment only by the governor or king. The Administration of Justice Act allowed officials accused of misconduct or murder while enforcing the law to get a change of venue to England. The Boston Port Act closed the Port of Boston until retribution for damages due to the Boston Tea Party were paid. The Quartering Act required troops be housed in citizens' homes, as well as in empty buildings.

The First Continental Congress created the Continental Association in October, 1774, an agreement to boycott all British goods. If that did not get the Intolerable Acts reversed after a year, then the colonies would cease to export goods to Great Britain.

Tensions between England and the colonies escalated , and on April 19,1775, the colonial militia and British soldiers fought at Lexington and Concord, beginning the American Revolutionary War.

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