On December 16, 1773, 340 chests of British East India Company Tea were dumped into Boston Harbor by the Sons of Liberty. The direct sale of tea by agents of the British East India Company to the American colonies undercut the business of colonial merchants. In many colonial ports to protest the Tea Act, the shipment of British East India Company tea was unloaded and left untouched on the docks to rot, setting the framework for the Boston Tea Party.

Source: Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum