The Tea Act of 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The main objective was to reduce the huge quantity of tea held by the financially ailing British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the financially ailing company survive. The Tea Act was the colonists' way of saying in a nutshell that they would not back down and surrender to the mighty fist of British troops and soldiers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The East India Company decreased sales leaving a surplus of more than 17 million pounds of tea. The East India Company was one of the most important companies in British America at the time. The act was to get as much money as possible from the colonies. They were in debt due to the war between the French and Indian wars. A few years before the British passed another act, the Townshend acts, which taxed everything they needed (lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea) due to the backlash, refused all acts to accept the act of tea. The Tea Law took away a source of income. They would still be taxed even for buying tea. The December 16 boycott, the Boston tea party, who were letting the tea rot, the British demanded that they buy the tea but had other plans, that night they spilled 342 cases of tea into the sea (Boston Harbor). Between 1760 and the early 1770s, the East India Company had been obliged to sell its tea exclusively in London, on which it paid a duty that averaged two shillings six pence per pound. Tea destined for the North American colonies was purchased by merchants specializing in that trade, who transported it to North America for eventual retail sale. The markups imposed by these merchants, combined with the tea tax imposed by the Townshend Acts of 1767, created a profitable opportunity for American merchants to import and distribute tea purchased from the Dutch in transactions and shipments that violated the Navigation Acts and were treated by the British authorities as contraband. Smugglers imported approximately 900,000 pounds (410,000 kg) of cheap foreign tea per year. The quality of the smuggled tea did not match the quality of the East India Company's taxable tea, of which Americans purchased 562,000 pounds (255,000 kg) per year. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Although British tea had a more appealing taste, some patriots such as the Sons of Liberty encouraged the consumption of contraband tea as a political protest against Townshend's taxes.