Boston Tea Party

American  

noun

American History.

1. a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor (December 16, 1773) in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company.

---

Boston Tea Party British  

noun

1. history a raid in 1773 made by citizens of Boston (disguised as Indians) on three British ships in the harbour as a protest against taxes on tea and the monopoly given to the East India Company. The contents of several hundred chests of tea were dumped into the harbour

---

Boston Tea Party Cultural  

1. An act of defiance toward the British government by American colonists; it took place in 1773, before the Revolutionary War. The government in London had given a British company the right to sell tea directly to the colonies, thereby undercutting American merchants. A group of colonists found a ship in the harbor of Boston that was loaded with the company's tea. They dressed as Native Americans, boarded the ship, and threw hundreds of chests of tea overboard. The British government then tried to punish the colonists by closing the port of Boston, but this move only intensified American resistance to the rule of the king.

---

Etymology

Origin of Boston Tea Party

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

His father-in-law was a merchant who received the tea that provoked the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

And around the corner, by the Fort Point Channel and near the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, sits rival Wellington.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

The most potent of American history’s protests — from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 on down — resonated far beyond their eras and, with their enduring notoriety, succeeded.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2024

Rob Lowe fronted a docudrama series on the Boston Tea Party.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2024

Although, I frowned as I followed the Sons of Liberty out into the cold December night, the only participants in the Boston Tea Party were men.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin