On what date did the Boston Tea Party take place during the events leading to American independence?

The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773.

That night, members of the Sons of Liberty and other protesters boarded tea ships in Boston Harbor and threw East India Company tea into the water. They were protesting Parliament’s Tea Act and the broader principle that Britain should not tax colonists who had no elected representatives in Parliament.

The event was a dramatic escalation in the dispute between Great Britain and its North American colonies. In response, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by many colonists. These measures restricted Massachusetts self-government and closed Boston Harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for.

The Boston Tea Party is often blended with other revolutionary events. The Boston Massacre occurred in 1770, while the Battles of Lexington and Concord began the armed war in April 1775. The Tea Party came between those events.