1. The Tea Act

2. What it was not…
•A tax

3. What it was…
• The Tea Act gave the East India Tea
Company exclusive rights to sell
tea in the colonies.
• The East India Tea Company was
losing money and the British
government wanted to protect
them.

4. What was the big deal?
• If it wasn’t a tax, why did they care?
• The Townsend Duties
– A previous tax on the colonists that had been repealed
– A tax on tea remained
– Colonists were already boycotting tea in protest
• The Sons of Liberty (remember them?) were
worried that the now cheap tea (because of
no competition) would hurt the boycott
efforts.

5. We’re having a party….
• The Sons of Liberty dumped the
tea overboard in Boston harbor.
• There were also smaller
“tea parties” in
Georgetown and
Charles Town.

6. Intolerable Acts
• The British Parliament became very angry
when they heard of the “tea parties” and
passed a series of laws the colonists
called the “Intolerable Acts.”
–The Port of Boston was closed, no goods
could go in or out
–Other colonies, like South Carolina, sent
food and supplies to help them survive