Friday, December 16, 2005

Boston Tea Party

On December 16, 1773 the Sons of Liberty lead by Samuel Adams dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773. The British reacted by establishing military control over Massachusetts, making British officials immune to criminal prosecution in America and forcing the colonists to house British troops in their homes. The Colonists then convened the Continental Congress and the resistance to British rule was begun.

(In a similar action in the Carolinas, the tea was confiscated and sold rather than simply dumped.)

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