The Tea Act of 1773 helped trigger the Boston Tea Party by allowing the East India Company to sell Chinese tea in the American colonies under favorable conditions.
Parliament passed the Tea Act on May 10, 1773. The law allowed the financially troubled East India Company to ship tea directly to the colonies and sell it through selected consignees, bypassing some existing costs and middlemen.
Although the act could make company tea cheaper, colonial opponents objected to the remaining tax and to the company’s privileged position. They saw the arrangement as confirming Parliament’s right to tax colonists without their elected representation.
On December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty destroyed tea cargo by throwing it into Boston Harbor. Britain responded with the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by many colonists, intensifying the crisis before open war.