The Significance of the Tea Act, Essay Example

The American colonists faced many challenges in their daily live; none of these challenges were unnecessary and cruel as the taxation acts imposed upon them by the British crown. The Tea Act was approved on May 10, 1773 and required that the colonists to purchase tea from the British East India Company at a higher price as a result of the Townshend duties; these duties were specifically established to pay the salaries of British government officials in the colonies so that Britain would not have to lay out an excess of money for this purpose. The Coercive Act was passed in 1773 after the colonists rebelled against the Tea Act; its purpose was to restrict the ability of the colonists to govern themselves in addition to limiting other rights they believed were natural to have.

The American colonists responded to the Tea Act in the form of a protest famously known as the Boston Tea Party. The colonists were frustrated with the British when this act passed because its purpose was primarily to protect Britain’s failing East India Company by keeping it in business at the expense of the colonists. In a sense, this forced colonists to accept the Townshend taxation that was imposed upon them by the British if they wished to consume tea. This angered the colonists, so they dumped all of this tea into the Boston Harbor in protest in December 1773.

While the Coercive Acts were meant to punish the colonists, they responded with feelings of resistance. The “Coercive Acts” are the blanket name for four separate laws passed by Britain; the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The Boston Port Act required that the colonists repay the monetary damage caused during the Boston Tea Party, the Massachusetts Government Act attempted to bring the state under the control of the British government, the Administration of Justice Act allowed the governor to move colonists to other colonies or Britain for a fair trial (which would force them to incur unnecessary and often impossible, expenses), and the Quartering Act allowed British troops to be quartered in any building not being used in the colonies. Since this took away the rights of many colonists and they were very displeased with the British government, they began to prepare the first few stages of the American Revolution.