An Act to allow a Drawback of the duties of Customs on the Exportation of Tea to any of his Majesty's Colonies or Plantations in America;

£25,000 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

The rare first separate issue of one of the most consequential acts of the eighteenth-century. A memorable synopsis of the Boston Tea Party can be read here: “The tea destroyers hailed from all walks of life. Men with strong backs and hard Yankee accents, they were a mix of young merchants, craftsmen, apprentices, and workers. They believed in a wrathful God, and they feared that the temptations of tea would turn them into tools of a corrupt, tyrannical empire. The grown men among them believed they were embarked on a noble deed of patriotic virtue. The younger boys thrilled to the idea of an evening spent wreaking chaos and destruction … On the evening of December 16, they spoke for all the dissidents in Boston who had squared off against the policies of the British government. The Boston Tea Party wasn’t a rebellion, or even a protest against the king - but it set in motion a series of events that led to open revolt against the British Crown ” (Carp). Great Britain clearly hadn’t foreseen the ramifications of what appeared to be a straightforward piece of legislation. The Tea Act was passed by the British Parliament on April 27th 1773 and received Royal assent shortly after on the 10th May. The Act allowed the faltering East India Company to export tea directly to America without paying customs duties. This gave the East India Company an effective monopoly on the lucrative trade by ensuring that it could be sold cheaply enough to undercut even the tea smuggled into the colo

• Binding: Hardcover

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