Which was a bigger cause for the American revolution? The boston tea party or the boston massacre? and why?

Answer 1

Now for an answer from someone that knows what they are talking about. A real historian.

Of the two choices you offered the Boston Massacre was BY FAR the greater cause. Here is why:

1. After the Boston Massacre silversmith Paul Revere drew a famous silver etching of the event that was copied and spread from Massachusetts to Georgia by a group of colonists known as the Committees of Correspondence. This group, organized by Samuel Adams, was responsible for drumming up anti-British sentiment among the colonists and unifying them in their planned attacks against the British crown. This poster was a very effective (if inaccurate) account of the Boston Massacre.

2. BECAUSE of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party took place three years later. Anti-British sentiments were at an all time high after the Boston Massacre and then when Parliament notified the colonists that they would have their choices of buying tea limited to ONLY the East India Tea Company (owned by England) they blew up with a group of tea parties. Boston was only ONE of MANY tea parties.

3. Following the Boston Tea Party the First Continental Congress was organized to organize a boycott of British goods, but remember all of this was started following the Boston Massacre and the dissemination of information by the Committees of Correspondence.

Answer 2

Neither was really a main cause. Originally the rebels didn't even want to break away from England and only declared independence about halfway through the war.

But if I had to pick out of the two? The Boston Massacre. The Boston Tea Party was really only a retaliation to the Tea Act. (Which actually lowered the price of tea...Hmmm...)

The reason the Revolutionary War started was because Great Britain had neglected their colonies and given them certain freedoms, then tried to crack down and the colonists didn't like it. That's the MAIN reason.

Answer 3

If you have to choose between the two, the Boston Tea Party would have been a larger contributor. The destruction of East India company property caused Parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts. These closed the port of Boston, allowed the quartering of troops, secret trials, and ended elected government in Massachusetts.

None of these acts sat well with colonial leaders, many of whom were already students of Voltaire, Locke, etc. and well versed in republican ideals.

The first thing to remember is that the colonies were not allowed to create finished goods. Raw materials were exported to Britain where they were refined then sold to the colonists at inflated prices. The Tea Act (which was the ultimate cause of the Tea Party to begin with) and Navigation Laws covered a variety of imported goods and products, further driving up prices on items the colonists already felt they could make themselves at home. Though the Tea Act was repealed after the Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts were seen as being even worse.

As upsetting as that was to the average colonist, the wealthy ones were even more greatly affected. Those same wealthy ones from Morris to Washington to Hancock, would later lead the rebellion.

The Massacre was a great propaganda tool (Paul Revere played it up for all he could), but really only one incident which rapidly got out of hand.

One can look at American Colonial History as a series of escalating arguments and misunderstandings leading to one very messy and painful divorce.

Answer 4

The real truth is the Battle of Lexington and Concord really started the war. Both of those things led up to this battle. Also The Boston Massacre was made to look worse by the people who print it in the papers. So this made the Americans angry. Because the massacre was made to look worse Americans were angry which led to the battle of Lexington and Concord. The tea party was bad too, but the only result was the British closing down the harbor till all the money for the tea was paid off.

Answer 5

While it would be hard to point to any one event that singularly led to the Revolution, there is no doubt that the American view that they were entitled to the full democratic rights of Englishmen, while the British view that the American colonies were just colonies to be used and exploited in whatever way best suited the Great Britain, insured that war was inevitable.
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Boston Massacre
An armed clash between the British and the colonists was almost inevitable from the moment British troops were introduced in Boston. Brawls were constant between the British and the colonists, who were constantly insulting the troops.

On March 5, 1770, a crowd of sixty towns people surrounded British sentries guarding the customs house. They began pelting snowballs at the guards. Suddenly, a shot rang out, followed by several others. Ultimately, 11 colonists were hit. Five were dead, including Crispus Attucks, a former slave.
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Boston Tea Party
Protests in the colonies against the Stamp Acts had died down when Parliament passed the Tea Act. The new act granted a monopoly on tea trade in the Americas to the East India Tea Company.

The Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, insisted that tea be unloaded in Boston, despite a boycott organized by the Sons of Liberty.

On the evening of December 16th, thousands of Bostonians and farmers from the surrounding countryside packed into the Old South Meeting house to hear Samuel Adams. Adams denounced the Governor for denying clearance for vessels wishing to leave with tea still on board. After his speech the crowd headed for the waterfront. From the crowd, 50 individuals emerged dressed as Indians. They boarded three vessels docked in the harbor and threw 90,000 pounds of tea overboard.
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In reaction to the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts are Imposed By British 1774.
The British were shocked by the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor and other colonial protests.

The British parliament gave its speedy assent to a series of acts that became known as the "Coercive Acts"; or in the colonies as the "Intolerable Acts". These acts included the closing of the port of Boston, until such time as the East India tea company received compensation for the tea dumped into the harbor. The Royal governor took control over the Massachusetts government and would appoint all officials. Sheriffs would become royal appointees, as would juries. In addition, the British took the right to quarter soldiers anywhere in the colonies.
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So .... Which came first? Which caused more hard feeling? Which shed more Colonial blood?
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I know. My answer gives rise to more questions than it answers.
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Personally, I feel that England's reaction to the Boston Tea Party, however they justified it, only emboldened the Colonialists to the point of Revolution.

Answer 6

The real reason the colonies wanted to independence was taxes. England was taxing the colonists for everything they could, including tea, but the colonies had no say n how they were governed. That was "taxation without representation."

The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxes on tea.

Answer 7

of the two you list... the massacre was the bigger cause. because the tea party was not a cause but an act of protest.
the tea party was a protest against taxation w/out representation. that was one reason the colonies rebelled initially. they had no say in the government that claimed authority over them. but even the tea party was a sign of the times. perpetrated by colonists impersonating native americans. "blame it on the savages."

Answer 8

A cause for the war was the stamp act and many others. Most of all americans just didnt want britain to control them.