The Boston Tea Party: an Ignition For War
Rachel Monica
1821 S Pepper Tree Ln, San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 272-0423
[email protected]
Redlands High School
840 E. Citrus Avenue. Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 307-5500
11th Grade
The Boston Tea Party: an Ignition For War
One of the most influential events prior to the American Revolution is the Boston
Tea Party due to its inspiration from bloodshed, feud with the British, and enduring
patriotism. The American Revolution lasted from 1765 until 1783 and marks the point in
history where the thirteen colonies renounced the authority Great Britain possessed over
them in the means of rejecting their monarchy and aristocracy. Numerous factors
contributed to this war for independence; however, the Boston Tea Party composes the
utmost significance to kindling the autonomy in the United States.
Although the Boston Tea Party itself was the last major event before the
American Revolution, it was strongly kindled by complications with the British. The
French and Indian War, lasting from 1756 to 1763, was fought between the French and
the British for the possession of the Ohio River Valley. This evoked the feud between the
colonists and the British because of the colonist refusal to assist them in war.
Furthermore, the colonists were acting upon trades with the French, which angered the
British. Complications between the colonists and the British sparked the desire for
independence. As a result of the French and Indian War, the British government sought to
tax the American colonies with the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Tariffs of 1767,
and the Tea Act of 1773 in order to raise revenue for their expenses. However, colonists
declared that the British were unfairly taxing them due to none of the thirteen colonies
having representation in Parliament, hence the phrase, “taxation without representation”.
Britain and the American colonies experienced growing feud with each other and began
to realize the injustices that had occurred. Difficulties between the two nations initiated to
more rebellions that would later on lead to the American Revolution.
Colonist bloodshed by the British served as a significant role in causing the
Boston Tea Party to occur. In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place where British
soldiers opened fire on a crowd of resisting colonists, which resulted in the death of five
and injuries of six. One of the men who was killed was of African and Native American
descent, which resulted in more contradictory. This act of violence caused American
colonists to be resentful and become even stronger with their fight for independence.
Bloodshed on American soil from the Boston Massacre was what caused the strive
toward more rebellion presented in the Boston Tea Party. As a result, public protests and
acts of violence occurred in demand for independence. In conclusion, the Boston
Massacre played a significant factor in aiding for the country’s patriotism in the
American Revolution.
The Boston Tea Party was the last major event prior to the American Revolution
and is viewed as one of the most important acts of rebellion toward the British. After the
Boston Massacre occurred in 1773, Boston citizens dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded
British ships, and dumped three-hundred-forty-two chests of tea into Boston Harbor as a
statement of liberty. As a result, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which were
intended to punish the citizens of Massachusetts for dumping the numerous amounts of
tea into the harbor. However, in comparison to the threats of violence, the Boston Tea
Party expressed a strong sense of freedom for the American Colonies. With this being
the last event before the American Revolution, it had finally begun in 1765 in Lexington
and Concord. George Washington constituted as a great president and military leader for
leading the American colonies in the country’s first major war with the British. A major
and significant turning point in this war for independence was the Battle of Saratoga in
1777 due to the British being captured. During this battle, the French arrive as allies to
the colonist army and the British are completely defeated at that point. One is able to
refer back to the French and Indian War because of the relations French had with both the
American colonies and the British. The French were in favor of the American colonists
because of their trades during the French and Indian War. On the other hand, that only
caused aggravation within the American colonies and Great Britain. The American
Revolution is considered to be the utmost definition of patriotism in what is now the
United States of America.
The American Revolution consisted of breaking away from Great Britain in order
to form the patriotic United States of America. The Boston Tea Party acts as the last
strong yet peaceful movement by the American colonists at the Boston Harbor. Although
the Boston Tea Party occurred right before the revolutionary war, many factors
contributed to it for the American Revolution to be successful.
Works Cited
Burg, David F. A World History of Tax Rebellions: An Encyclopedia of Tax Rebels,
Revolts, and Riots from Antiquity to the Present. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Print.
Countryman, Edward, and Eric Foner. The American Revolution. New York: Hill and
Wang, 1985. Print.
Findling, John E., and Frank W. Thackeray. Events That Changed America in the
Eighteenth Century. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 1998. Print.
Miller, John Chester. Origins of the American Revolution. Boston, MA: Little, Brown,
1943. Print.
Trevelyan, George Otto. The American Revolution. New York: D. McKay, 1964. Print.
Biography
My name is Rachel Monica, and I am a junior at Redlands High School in
Redlands, California. I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and moved to California in October
of 2001. Attending Redlands High School, I am the current concertmaster of the RHS
String Ensemble, and I am also a member of the RHS JV Girls Swim Team. I take four
advanced placement classes with AP U.S. History being one of them.