Which act imposed a tax on tea and led to the Boston Tea Party?

• A. The Sugar Act
• B. The Townshend Acts
• C. The Tea Act of 1773
• D. The Navigation Acts

Answer: (C)

Taxation on tea sparked a direct protest in the colonies, culminating in the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act of 1773 imposed a tax on tea and gave the East India Company a monopoly, which not only kept the tax in place but also favored a British company at the expense of colonial merchants. Colonists viewed this as taxation without representation and a maneuver to prop up a monopoly, so they took action by throwing tea into Boston Harbor in 1773. Other acts did tax goods in various ways, but this specific law tied directly to the tea tax and the subsequent dramatic protest.