The Tea Act 1773
- Most controversial decree enforced by the English( was not a new tax)
- In 1770 Lord North repealed four out of the five Townshend acts,except the tax on tea.
- The East India company could not compete with the tea being illegally smuggled by the colonial merchants
- Americans refused to buy the tea which resulted in almost filing bankruptcy for the East India Company
- Britain decided to help the company since they were the key to the economic success
- The Act Allowed the tea to go straight to the colonies instead of going to Britain then reexported to the colonies
- This allowed the company to sell the tea exclusively to merchants in the colonies
- By directly going straight to the colonies and selling to merchants, it created monopolies within the American ports
- These events lead up to the Boston Tea Party.