By December of 1773, American colonists had grown increasingly
frustrated. Among their complaints was that the British government had
imposed a tea tax on colonists. The Americans objected because it was
taxation without representation--that is, they had no say in who was
elected to parliament. As tensions grew, plans formed to protest the tax
by pouring hundreds of containers of tea into the Boston Harbor. One of
the first acts of protest in America, the Boston Tea Party helped spark
America's fight for independence.