This Day in History:, The Boston Tea Party.br December 16, 1773.br A group of Massachusetts br colonists disguised as members br of the Mohawk tribe boarded br three British tea ships in Boston Harbor.br They dumped 342 chests br of tea — valued at $18,000 — br into the harbor in protest of the br British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773.br Colonists viewed the act br as another example of br British taxation tyranny.br Outraged, British Parliament enacted br the Coercive Acts, also known as br the Intolerable Acts in 1774.br Boston was closed to merchant br shipping, and a formal British military br rule was established in Massachusetts.br British officials were deemed immune to br criminal prosecution in America. Colonists br were required to quarter British troops.