Tea Act Smuggling

About Tea Act Smuggling

Before the Tea Act, colonists smuggled an estimated 5.6 million pounds of tea annually from Holland to avoid British tea duties. John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in Boston, made his fortune smuggling tea. The Tea Act of 1773 allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to colonies at prices below even smuggled tea, while retaining the 3 pence per pound duty. This threatened the business of colonial merchants and smugglers. The Sons of Liberty, including Hancock and Samuel Adams, organized the Boston Tea Party partly to protect their economic interests. The economic dimensions of the tea crisis are often overshadowed by the principle of no taxation without representation, but both were important drivers of colonial resistance.