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How did parliament effectively lower the price of tea in the colonies through the Tea Act?
On April 27, 1773, the British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade.
Why did the colonists protest the Tea Act even though it actually lowered the price of tea?
Even though the price of tea was lowered, the colonists were angry because they were forced to buy only British East India Company’s tea and no longer could buy any tea they wanted. They also passed the Quebec Act, which prevented colonists from moving west.
How much was the British tax on tea?
The act granted the EIC a monopoly on the sale of tea that was cheaper than smuggled tea; its hidden purpose was to force the colonists to pay a tax of 3 pennies on every pound of tea. The Tea Act thus retained the three pence Townshend duty on tea imported to the colonies.
Why was the tea tax considered unfair?
The colonists resisted the new tax, arguing that only their own elective colonial assemblies could tax them, and that “taxation without representation” was unjust and unconstitutional.
Why is there no tax on tea?
The passing of the Tea Act imposed no new taxes on the American colonies. The tea tax was kept in order to maintain Parliament’s right to tax the colonies. The Tea Act was not intended to anger American colonists, instead it was meant to be a bailout policy to get the British East India Company out of debt.
Why were the colonists so angry with the British?
By the 1770s, many colonists were angry because they did not have self-government. This meant that they could not govern themselves and make their own laws. They had to pay high taxes to the king. They were also angry because the colonists were forced to let British soldiers sleep and eat in their homes.
How many boxes of tea did they dump?
342 chests
American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists.
Who caused the Boston Tea Party?
What caused the Boston Tea Party? Many factors including “taxation without representation,” the 1767 Townshend Revenue Act, and the 1773 Tea Act. In simplest terms, the Boston Tea Party happened as a result of “taxation without representation”, yet the cause is more complex than that.
Why did the British tax tea?
The tax on tea had existed since the passing of the 1767 Townshend Revenue Act. The tea tax was kept in order to maintain Parliament’s right to tax the colonies. The Tea Act was not intended to anger American colonists, instead it was meant to be a bailout policy to get the British East India Company out of debt.
How much money was the tea worth in today’s dollars?
The damage the Sons of Liberty caused by destroying 340 chests of tea, in today’s money, was worth more than $1,700,000 dollars. The British East India Company reported £9,659 worth of damage caused by the Boston Tea Party. According to some modern estimates, the destroyed tea could have brewed 18,523,000 cups of tea!
What did the British Parliament do about the Boston Tea Party?
Parliament, outraged by the Boston Tea Party and other blatant acts of destruction of British property, enacted the Coercive Acts, known to colonists as the Intolerable Acts, the following year.
How did the Tea Act affect the East India Company?
The act retained the duty on imported tea at its existing rate, but, since the company was no longer required to pay an additional tax in England, the Tea Act effectively lowered the price of the East India Company’s tea in the colonies.
What was the purpose of the Tea Act of 1773?
The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government in the decade leading up to the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). The act’s main purpose was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to bail out the floundering East India Company,…
Why was the Tea Act bad for the colonies?
Parliament passes the Tea Act. Many colonists viewed the act as yet another example of taxation tyranny, precisely because it left an earlier duty on tea entering the colonies in place, while removing the duty on tea entering England.