Tea Act Flashcards
(4 cards)
1
Q
When was the tea act
A
1773
2
Q
Background to the act
A
- designed to help the east India company who were already bankrupt
- they no longer had to pay tax for tea leaving India and were given a license to sell in America
- also thought that i would reduce smuggling in the colonies as cheap tea was smuggled in from Holland
3
Q
Describe the tea act
A
- EIC given a license to sell in America
- the colonists would pay the tax when the tea came into the colonies- already in existence due to the townshend duties
- American consumers would benefit as tea would drop in price
- the EIC would sell its vast stocks of tea in America at a healthy profit
- Britain would obtain increased duties
- this would give them a competitive advantage over colonial tea merchants
- tea was so cheap that it undermined tea sold legitimate;y in America and those who smuggled it, forcing them out of business.
4
Q
Why did the tea act cause problems?
A
- seen as another attempt to tax and the destruction of independence of their colonial assemblies
- it gave the EIC monopoly of tea merchants
- they feared prices would rise along with taxes
- act was attacked in newspapers, NY sent tea back to the UK and tea agents intimidated into resigning
- reinforced the perception of unfair economic policies imposed by the British government
