What Are The Consequences Of The Boston Tea Party

British troops occupied the Boston in 1768 due to political unrest in the colonies as a result of the Townshend Act. This act placed a tax on tea, glass, lead, paper and paint. Colonists were outraged at the taxation and rallied themselves against the British. On March 5, 1770, a group of colonists began to harass British troops guarding the customs house because they were angry with the fact that they were being treated like children by the British. One the soldier's gun fired on accident an sparked a shooting into the crowd by other troops. This shot is known as "the shot heard around the world" and resulted in five civilian deaths. Three years later, Britain passed the Tea Act of 1773 to raise money for its East India Company. The tax on tea angered the colonists so months after the act was passed colonists stormed a British ship carrying tea and threw all the tea into Boston Harbor. …show more content…
The action of the colonists would not go unpunished by British who thought the Tea Party was unacceptable. In 1774, Britain enforced the Intolerable Acts that punished Massachusetts by taking away their right to self-govern. This caused a need for discussion so the First Continental Congress met to decide just how they would deal with the Intolerable Acts. Nearly a year later, battle sparked between the colonists and British at Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution. Congress, wanting to avoid war, sent King George III the Olive Branch Petition asking for the peaceful recognition of American Rights. King George denied and declared war on the colonies. Battle with the number one army in the world was serious so Congress met again on July 4, 1776 at the Second Continental Congress where the Declaration of Independence