what happened at the boston tea party

The Boston Tea Party was a significant political protest that took place on December 16, 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated with British taxation without representation, especially the Tea Act which imposed a tax on tea, took direct action by boarding three British ships docked in Boston Harbor. Disguised as Mohawk Indians, about 150 men from the Sons of Liberty boarded the ships and deliberately dumped 342 chests of East India Company tea into the harbor. This act of defiance was meant to protest the British tax on tea and assert colonial resistance to British rule. The event was meticulously planned and executed to target only the tea, avoiding unnecessary vandalism. It marked a turning point by significantly escalating tensions leading to the American Revolution.