Parliament Kept a Three-Pence-per-Pound Duty on Tea, and Colonists Dumped 342 Chests in Boston Harbor in 1773
The Fact
In 1770 Parliament repealed the Townshend duties except the duty on tea — three pence per pound — keeping it to prove that Parliament could tax the colonists. After the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, colonists rallying around 'no taxation without representation' dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor on the night of December 16, 1773.
What This Means
The tax that helped start a revolution was a small duty on one product. The fight was over who had the right to tax — and how much of people's lives a distant government could claim.
Why It Matters
Today's worker at the average wage pays about 24% of gross pay in income and payroll taxes (BSF-0363).
Sources
“Tea Act.” American Eras, via Encyclopedia.com (source: Bernhard Knollenberg, Growth of the American Revolution 1766–1775, 1975). https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tea-act
American Battlefield Trust. “Boston Tea Party.” https://www.battlefields.org/learn/topics/boston-tea-party