The Tea Act of 1773, enacted by the British Parliament, aimed to address the financial struggles of the East India Company by allowing it to sell its surplus tea directly to the American colonies at a reduced price, bypassing middlemen. The act was not primarily designed to impose a new 2% tax but rather to undercut the price of smuggled tea, which was widely consumed in the colonies, and to bolster the company’s faltering finances. However, the act retained an existing tax on tea, which the colonists perceived as a deliberate attempt by Britain to assert its authority to tax the colonies without their consent—a principle known as “taxation without representation.” This perception was heightened by fears that the act could set a precedent for additional taxes, further eroding colonial autonomy. The colonists’ frustration culminated in acts of defiance, most notably the Boston Tea Party, where colonists, disguised as Native Americans, boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor in December 1773. While the tax itself was not specifically a 2% levy, the Tea Act and its associated tax became a powerful symbol of British overreach, intensifying colonial resentment and galvanizing resistance against British rule.
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