On what date was the Boston Tea Party held?

The Boston Tea Party was held on December 16, 1773.

That night, members of the Sons of Liberty boarded ships in Boston Harbor and destroyed a large shipment of East India Company tea by throwing it into the water. The protest opposed Parliament’s Tea Act and the broader principle that colonists should not be taxed by a legislature in which they had no elected representatives.

The event followed weeks of meetings and tension. Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to let the tea ships leave without paying the required duty, while local protesters demanded that the tea be returned to Britain. Thousands gathered near the Old South Meeting House before the destruction began.

Britain responded with the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by many colonists. These measures intensified resistance and helped create the political conditions that led to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and armed conflict in 1775.