Traditionally, 342 tea chests were said to have been dumped during the Boston Tea Party.
On December 16, 1773, colonists in Boston boarded three East India Company ships and threw tea into Boston Harbor. The protest opposed Parliament’s Tea Act, which granted the East India Company special advantages while maintaining the principle that the colonies could be taxed without their direct representation in Parliament.
The event involved the ships Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver. Participants worked for about three hours, and many disguised themselves in clothing associated with Mohawk identity. The protestors destroyed the tea but generally avoided damaging the ships or stealing other cargo, making the action a highly symbolic act of resistance.
Historical sources differ slightly on the total. Many textbooks and encyclopedias use 342 chests, while ship manifests and some modern historical organizations support a total of 340. Trivia references overwhelmingly use 342, which is the traditional figure connected with the Boston Tea Party. Britain responded with the Coercive Acts, intensifying the crisis that led toward the Revolutionary War.