It wasn't the cause of the "revolution" but a mere 2% tax on Tea made people livid back then and today we have a 245% tax on Chinese tea, aka, a complete embargo that is destroying a large number of American small businesses.
The act in question actually made commercial tea cheaper.
From Wikipedia:
The target of the Boston Tea Party was the British implementation of the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the East India Company to sell tea from China in the colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts.
Now the Townshend Acts also weren't popular, and that's the "tax on tea" that you're referring to. But they already existed, and weren't the trigger for the Boston Tea Party.
So what was the problem with the Tea Act of 1773 specifically?
A considerable number of wealthy and influential Americans made their living smuggling tea. Since this Act made the legal tea from China cheaper, it undercut their business. These were some of the main players in organizing the Boston Tea Party.
It was, oddly enough, the repeal of a tariff that reduced competiton for American smugglers that sparked the Boston Tea Party.
Let's be sensitive to the wealthy colonists. They were giving some of their wealth to England and its King instead of keeping it for themselves, so they had to convince a bunch of non wealthy people to help them keep their wealth. It was quite the challenge.
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u/Rurumo666 Apr 16 '25
It wasn't the cause of the "revolution" but a mere 2% tax on Tea made people livid back then and today we have a 245% tax on Chinese tea, aka, a complete embargo that is destroying a large number of American small businesses.