Most of the tea merchants refused to give in to the Patriots. The merchants wanted to keep selling tea. That made things more tense. Then on November 28, 1773, the ship the Dartmouth sailed into Boston’s harbor. It carried a large cargo of tea.
Tea was a very important part of everyday life to American colonists. This advertisement from the 1760s offers tea for sale.
Protests were made against the Tea Act all over the colonies. This declaration made in New York talks about preventing tea ships from landing.