On what date did the Boston Tea Party take place, an event leading toward the American Revolution?

The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773, when protesters dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

The protest followed Parliament’s Tea Act, which allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly in the American colonies while retaining a tax. Colonists objected that taxation without elected colonial representation violated their rights.

Members of the Sons of Liberty and other Boston residents boarded three ships—the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver—and destroyed hundreds of chests of tea. They were often described as disguised as Native Americans, although the disguises varied.

The British government responded with the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by many colonists. These measures intensified resistance and helped create the political crisis that preceded the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. The Tea Party is therefore an important prewar milestone on the road to American independence.