The Townshend Acts of 1767 imposed new taxes on the colonists, including duties on glass, lead, paper, and tea. The Townshend Acts were met with widespread protest in the colonies, and many colonists refused to pay the taxes.
The Boston Massacre occurred in 1770, in which British soldiers killed five colonists who were protesting the Townshend Acts. The Boston Massacre further inflamed tensions between the colonists and the British government.
The Tea Act of 1773 gave the British East India Company a monopoly on the sale of tea in the colonies, and also exempted the company from paying taxes on tea. This act was seen by the colonists as a violation of their rights to representative government and free trade.
In response to the Tea Act, the Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773, in which colonists boarded three British ships and dumped the tea overboard. The Boston Tea Party was the culmination of a series of protests against British rule, and it led directly to the outbreak of the American Revolution.