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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

The Tea Act of 1773

The British government scrambled for a plan to rescue the East India Company. Their solution counted on the popularity of tea in America.

The ship Princess Royal, an “East Indiaman,” that carried goods from Asian ports to England. The same ship was portrayed from two angles, a common format in marine paintings of the period. John Cleveley the Elder, c. 1770. - National Maritime Museum Greenwich
The ship Princess Royal, an “East Indiaman,” that carried goods from Asian ports to England. The same ship was portrayed from two angles, a common format in marine paintings of the period.
- John Cleveley the Elder, c. 1770. National Maritime Museum Greenwich
East India House in London, the company headquarters at the time of the Boston Tea Party. After recovering financially the company built a larger facility.

East India House in London, the company headquarters at the time of the Boston Tea Party. After recovering financially the company built a larger facility.
- Engraving by T. Simpson, 1766

All the Tea in Warehouses

The East India Company faced stiff competition from illegal smugglers of lower priced tea. Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson wrote, “We have been so long habituated to illicit Trade that people in general see no evil in it.” He estimated that three quarters of the tea consumed in America was smuggled, most of it by Dutch merchants. Meanwhile more expensive East India Company tea was rotting in English warehouses - unsold.

The tea plant (Camellia Sinensis). Green most of the year, it flowers in late fall or early winter.

The tea plant (Camellia Sinensis). Green most of the year, it flowers in late fall or early winter.
- Kohler’s Medicinal Plants, 1897

Too Clever by Half

The Tea Act It was decided to grant a monopoly on colonial tea sales to the British East India Company. By relieving the company of duties to the British government it could sell a large volume of tea at low prices, even undercutting smugglers of low cost Dutch tea. As a bonus the British government would impose small customs duties at American ports (the equivalent of three pence per pound). Enticing the colonists with cheap tea, they would establish the principle of taxation - or so they thought.

TEA LEAVES

READING (ABOUT) TEA LEAVES
Tea originated in China and Southeast Asia. Nearly all varieties come from a single plant (Camellia Sinensis). Different flavors result from the time of harvest, altitude of planting, size of leaves when picked, and variations in processing. Most of the tea dumped in Boston Harbor was called “Bohea,” a type of black tea. Green tea was also destroyed including the delicate and costly “Hyson” variety.