Which act in 1773 sparked the Boston Tea Party?

The Tea Act sparked the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Passed by Parliament on 10 May 1773, it allowed the financially troubled East India Company to ship tea directly to the American colonies and sell it through selected agents.

The act was designed to reduce the company's huge tea surplus and undercut smuggled Dutch tea. It could even lower the final price, but colonists objected because the tea still carried the Townshend duty. Buying it seemed to accept Parliament's authority to tax the colonies without their consent.

On 16 December 1773, protesters in Boston boarded three ships and dumped roughly 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The protest helped trigger Britain's Coercive Acts, which intensified tensions before the American Revolutionary War.

The Townshend Acts, Sugar Act, and Stamp Act were also important sources of colonial anger, but none directly caused the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act was the immediate legislative provocation.