The Boston Tea Party: The Most Important Turning Point In American History

The Boston Tea Party is the most important turning point in American history because it marked the first of a series of subsequent events—from British colonies to independent states and from independent states to a united nation -- that led to the formation of the United States of America. First and foremost, The Boston Tea Party led to the Revolutionary War and consequently to the Civil War, which in turn, ended the institution of slavery and redefined the political and social configuration of the American territory and the rights of its people. In addition, the Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a series of events that led to the Declaration of American Rights, the First Continental Congress, the Continental Association (1774) and, in turn, to the Articles of Confederation and to the Declaration of Independence (1776). In other words, The Boston Tea Party represents the beginning of the American journey toward common nationality. Without the “Destruction of the tea,” as Samuel Adams called the Boston Tea Party in his …show more content…
Since the Proclamation of 1763, (Tindall 119) the British government had tried to regulate the American colonies and tighten its control over them. Then, the Tea Act of 1773 pushed the colonies to their breaking point. The Tea Act of 1773 was an act which granted the East India Company to “send its south Asia tea directly to America without paying any duties” (Tindall and Shy 128). When Samuel Adams and the Son of Liberty released the content of chests of tea in the ocean, they openly declared their willingness to rebel against Great Britain and its rules. The Boston tea party was not an impulsive action but a well-organized political protest against the rules of the British government. For the colonists, it was a moment of great awareness and the beginning of a commitment to their future nation and their future civil and political