The Tea Act was passed by the British Parliament in May 1773 , receiving royal assent on May 10, 1773.

Quick Scoop

  • The Tea Act is formally known as the Tea Act of 1773.
  • Parliament gave it royal assent on May 10, 1773.
  • Its goal was to help the struggling British East India Company by giving it a monopoly on tea sold in the American colonies.
  • The act directly helped trigger the Boston Tea Party later that year, on December 16, 1773.

In forum-style debates and history discussions today, when people ask “when was the Tea Act,” they are almost always referring to this 1773 law tied to the rising tensions that led into the American Revolution.

In simple terms: the Tea Act is a 1773 British law about tea taxes and monopoly that set the stage for the Boston Tea Party and, ultimately, revolution.

TL;DR: The Tea Act was in 1773, officially approved on May 10, 1773.

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