Resource

HISTORIC ARTICLE

Resource

HISTORIC ARTICLE

Dec 16, 1773 CE: Boston Tea Party

Dec 16, 1773 CE: Boston Tea Party

On December 16, 1773, a group of American colonists calling themselves the “Sons of Liberty” boarded three merchant ships in Boston Harbor and poured all their cargo—342 chests of tea—into the water, an event now referred to as the Boston Tea Party.

Grades

6 - 12

Subjects

Social Studies, Civics, U.S. History, World History

















NGS Resource Carousel Loading Logo
Loading ...

On December 16, 1773, a group of American colonists calling themselves the “Sons of Liberty” boarded three merchant ships in Boston Harbor and poured all their cargo—342 chests of tea—into the water, an event now referred to as the Boston Tea Party. The event protested tea imports, which colonists had boycotted due to “taxation without representation.”

The British government responded to the Boston Tea Party with a series of laws, called the Intolerable Acts by colonists. These acts closed Boston Harbor, ended self-governance and some judicial oversight in Massachusetts, and strengthened laws requiring colonists to support British troops in America.

Many veterans of the Boston Tea Party went on to lead the American Revolution, including Paul Revere, John Hancock, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry—and Benedict Arnold.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Editor
National Geographic Society
Producer
Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society
other
Last Updated

May 17, 2022

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. She or he will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.