Which protest became famous when colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor in December 1773?

The Boston Tea Party was the December 1773 protest in which colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

On December 16, protesters in Boston boarded ships carrying East India Company tea and threw the cargo into the water. They opposed Parliament’s tea policies and the broader principle that Britain could impose taxation on colonists who lacked representation in Parliament.

The protest was organized by groups including the Sons of Liberty. Participants took care to destroy the tea rather than steal it or damage the ships, although the action caused substantial financial loss to the East India Company.

Britain responded with the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by many colonists. These measures tightened imperial control over Massachusetts and helped encourage colonial cooperation, contributing to the political crisis that led to the American Revolution.