The Tea Act, 1773

507 Words3 Pages
The British Parliament passed the Tea Act to reduce the tax on tea that was shipped to the colonies. British Prime Minister, Frederick, Lord North, initiated the act. He found it impossible for colonists to protest the legislation, but he was wrong. Lord North served 12 disastrous years as Prime Minister for the British government. He is best known as “the man who lost Britain’s American colonies.” He enjoyed knowing that the real issue at stake in the colonies was not just taxation, but power. Lord North soon led Britain to war but the war turned out a disaster. He begged King George III to allow him to resign, but he was not allowed until the war was over. In 1782, Lord North resigned after a vote of no confidence. The Tea Act took place in May of 1773, in Boston Massachusetts. The East-India Company was in deep financial trouble and was struggling to sell its tea. The company originally ran their business by monopolizing tea through the colonies, but that became a problem. The high-priced tea brought many smugglers to sell tea without the tax. The situation became very dangerous for the East-India Company. Since colonists were not buying their tea, piles of boxes were left to rot in their warehouses and the company was leading itself into bankruptcy. The British Empire responded to their problem with a program designed to help them and challenge the American colonists. The tea act targeted American colonists on their taxations. The attempt to drastically reduce the price of the East-India Company’s tea in order to attract buyers did not please the colonists. Americans were forced to buy tea only from the company. Although the price on tea did decrease, the American colonists were no fools. They soon figured out that the company was only using them to get back on business. And the British Empire had used this ploy to continue their tax collections on the
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