The Boston Tea Party was a significant political protest by American colonists against British rule, which took place on December 16, 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts. It involved members of the Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams, who disguised themselves as Native Americans and boarded British ships docked at Griffin’s Wharf. They threw 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor as a direct protest against the Tea Act imposed by the British Parliament

. The Tea Act of 1773 allowed the East India Company to sell tea in the American colonies without paying certain taxes, effectively creating a monopoly and undercutting local merchants. Colonists opposed this because it represented "taxation without representation," as they had no elected representatives in the British Parliament to voice their concerns. The protest was both against the tax on tea and the monopoly granted to the East India Company

. This act of defiance escalated tensions between Britain and the American colonies, leading to harsh British responses such as the Intolerable Acts, which further restricted colonial self-government and trade. These events helped spark the American Revolutionary War less than two years later

. In summary, the Boston Tea Party was a pivotal event in American history symbolizing colonial resistance to British taxation and control, and it played a key role in the movement toward American independence.