Causes of the Boston Tea Party - Free Essay in American History

Boston Tea Party was a rebellious event that occurred on December 16th, 1773 when the American colonists showed their anger on the laws that had been passed by England. The laws were affecting them directly but they had not involved in their formation. They showed their anger by throwing tea which had been imported from China into the Boston harbor. The American colonialist felt that the British Parliament had passed the Tea Act which violated their rights that stated that no taxation without representation. Additionally, they felt that the selling of tea in the colonies had been affected by some external companies that had been given power by the British government. They felt that these companies were bringing unfair competition since they did not pay taxes except those outlined in the Townshend Acts. Therefore, the Boston Tea party can be seen as the beginning of the American evolution due to the disagreements between the colonists and the British Parliament.

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Various scholars have described the causes of the Boston Tea party. Joanne Watcher is among the people who wrote books that aimed at giving reasons why the event occurred. In her book, The Boston Tea Party, she gave two reasons which were the main causes on the anger among the colonist which led them to the action. One, they were required to pay taxes on the newspapers. They felt these taxes were not supposed to be charged since it was passed without their involvement. Thus, violation of the concept of "no taxation without representation. Secondly, the major cause of the Boston Tea Party was the tax that had been imposed on tea. Several colonists were angry about the taxes and felt bad that the British East India Company had been allowed to supply tea with less tax a strategy that disadvantaged other companies. Thus Watcher feels that these were the two main causes of the Boston Tea Party.

Ida Walker is another scholar who has explained why the Tea Party in Boston occurred. She gives a description of how the British government was introducing unnecessary taxes to the American colonists and thus their lives became hard to survive. Therefore, colonialist did not have any other option but to act in a way that could show the England parliament they were not happy with the laws they were forming without involving them. The main anger resulted from the failure of the British government to remove the tax on tea noting that it was the widely consumed beverage among the colonist. However, the same government went ahead and make it easier for the East India Company to sell tea in the colonies by charging fewer taxes. Therefore, Ida notes that the company could sell a lot of tea at a low price and thus it was unfair for the colonists' production.

Robert Allison was also a scholar who described the Tea Party and its cause. He argued that the Tea At had indirectly given East India Company some monopolistic power. The companies in the colonies had to pay a lot of taxes while the company paid less. Therefore, it was clear that it would have a better approach in the market than the other competing companies. Additionally, Allison links the favor on the company to the loan that it had been given by the then prime minister. Lord North had given East India Company a lot of 1.5 million Euros and thus he was allowed to appoint people to be part of the management. The American colonist felt that they would not win the battle since it had a lot of support from the British government and also the parliament. Therefore, the demonstration of anger through destroying the tea was the best method to show that they were not impressed by the existing laws.

The issue also made Michael Burgan to have interest in writing concerning the topic. He wrote about the group of people who referred to themselves as the Patriots. They were led by Samuel Adams who was among the people who had been angered by the taxation process of the British government on tea. The patriots argued that the tax on tea should not have been collected from them since it the law was passed without representation from the colonists. Additionally, they felt that the British government aimed at killing the local tea market by unfairly allowing the East India Company to pay little tax. Therefore, Burgan believes that this could be the major cause of the Boston Tea Party.

Another scholar, Barbara Brannon wrote the book Discover the Boston Tea Party. She also gave several reasons why the Boston Tea Party Occurred. She felt that taxation was the main reason why the colonists were angry and thus opted to cause the damage on the tea imported from China by the East India Company through the authorization British government who charged it less tax. Brannon gave several areas where the colonist felt that the British government was oppressing them. Firstly, she argues that the colonists were required to pay tax on sugar which they felt was not a good practice and that it was making their life difficult. Secondly, they were rejecting the tax that had been subjected to the glass. The colonist required a glasses since they were constructing houses in the American land and hence charging them tax on the commodity was increasing the cost of construction.

Greg Roza also wrote his idea concerning the cause of the Boston Tea Party. In his book Analyzing the Boston Tea Party: Establishing the Cause and Effect Relationship, he notes that the need for colonists to have their laws created a platform for the Tea Party. The colonists were tired from the control by the British government which passed laws that did not work well for them. The push that the colonist should have their own laws made the government in England to resist the idea and animosity started. The American colonists were unhappy and felt that they needed to show actions of rebellion. Therefore, they chose the destruction of the tea from China which could send a picture to the England rulers that their laws could no longer be accepted.

Rod Espinosa also wrote the book Boston Tea Party to give an account of the cause of the Boston Tea Party. He argued that the British government was getting a lot of money from the American Colonies but it still felt that it needed more and thus aimed at raising the taxes. However, the settlers were not only the Englishmen since there were other people who had gone to look for an income. Thus, these people felt that the British government should not tax them and thus a conflict arose. The conflict also spread due to the involvement of the French by the Americans so that they could protect them. Therefore, when a platform arose to punish the British government, all the enemies participated. Therefore, the Boston Tea Party could have been caused by the revenge of England enemies.

In conclusion, it is evident that the Boston Tea Party is an event that has attracted many scholars who have given their contribution to the reasons why it occurred. The cause of the Tea Party was mainly the rejection that the British government had imposed on the colonist. Tea was the main commodity that the American colonist felt that they were taxed heavily while the competing companies such as East India Company was allowed to bring them to the colony at a less price thus unfair competition. Other commodities that they felt were taxed unfairly included glass and sugar. Furthermore, the Patriots through their leader Samuel Adams exerted a lot of pressure on the need to reject the policies that were passed by the British government and this fueled the process of having the party. Also, people who were not from England felt that they were being taxed by an external government and thus the Boston Tea Party was a chance to revenge. Finally, the locals asked for help from the French and this created pressure on the need for punishing the British government. Therefore, the contribution of the scholars has facilitated broad knowledge on the causes of the Boston Tea Party.

Bibliography

Allison, Robert J. The Boston Tea Party. Applewood Books, 2007.

Burgan, Michael. The Boston Tea Party. Capstone, 2000.

Espinosa, Rod. Boston Tea Party. ABDO Publishing Company, 2010

Gilman, Sarah. The Boston Tea Party. Enslow Publishing, LLC, 2016.

Griswold, Wesley S. The Night the Revolution Began: The Boston Tea Party, 1773. S. Greene Press, 1972.

Mead, Walter Russell. "The Tea Party and American foreign policy: What populism means for globalism." Foreign Affairs(2011): 28-44.

Roza, Greg. Analyzing the Boston Tea Party: Establishing the Cause and Effect Relationship. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 2005.

Thomas, Peter David Garner. The Townshend Duties Crisis: The Second Phase of the American Revolution, 1767-1773. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Walker, Ida. 2008. The Boston Tea Party. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub.

Watcher, Joanne. The Boston Tea Party. Pelham, NY: Benchmark Education Company, 2005.