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Parliament passes the Townshend Acts which places an import tax on British goods sold in the colonies on vital materials.
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In protest, the colonists boycotted tea sold by British East India Company and smuggled in Dutch tea, leaving East Company with millions of pounds of surplus tea and facing bankruptcy.
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On March 5, 1770, a street brawl happened in Boston between American colonists and British soldiers. An angry group of colonists, frustrated with the presence of British soldiers in their streets, flung snowballs, ice and oyster shells at a British Guards, covering the Boston Customs House from any threats. More soldiers arrived and opened fire on the mob, killing five colonists and wounding six. This just fueled the rage of the colonists even more.
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Parliament removes most of the clauses in the Townshend Acts except for the tax on tea.
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At night, a large group of men, many reportedly members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised themselves in Native American garb, boarded the docked ships and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. They would split the chests with their tomahawks beforehand to get the tea exposed to water.
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George Washington wrote. “The cause of Boston, ever will be considered as the cause of America.” But his personal views of the matter were very different. He voiced strong disapproval of “their conduct in destroying the Tea” and claimed Bostonians “were mad.”
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King George III passed these Acts after the Tea Party stating... -Closed Boston Harbor until the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party was paid for. -Ended the Massachusetts Constitution and ended free elections of town officials. -Moved judicial authority to Britain and British judges, creating martial law in Massachusetts. -Required colonists to house British troops on demand
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Around 60 Bostonians boarded the ship Fortune and dumped nearly 30 chests of tea into the harbor.
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Colonists felt Britain’s Coercive Acts were too harsh. Following, elected delegates from all 13 American colonies except Georgia met in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia for the first time, starting the Continental Congress. The delegates were divided on how to move forward but the Boston Tea Party had united them in their mission to gain independence. In October of 1774, they'd finally had written the Declarations and Resolves, adjuring the first Continental Congress.