On this date in 1773 the British Parliament passed one of the most ill-conceived laws of all time, The Tea Act. In an effort to save the almost bankrupt East India Company, Parliament granted it a de facto monopoly on tea in the American colonies. The law actually reduced the cost of tea in the colonies and did not impart any new taxes or levies. What it did was reinforce the view among the colonist that they were subject to the whims of a distant government and threatened the businesses local merchants. Protests arose all along the seaports of the colonies. The most famous protest being the Boston Tea Party lead by Samuel Adams. British reaction to these protest led to the Coercive Acts that finally sparked the American Revolution and the British loss of the American colonies.
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