The Tea Act was a law passed by the British Parliament in 1773. It aimed to help the struggling British East India Company by allowing it to sell tea directly to the American colonies, bypassing colonial merchants. This meant that the company could sell tea at a lower price, but it also angered many colonists who saw it as an attempt to impose British control over colonial trade. The act led to significant protests, most notably the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, where colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dumped an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor. This act of defiance was a response to what they viewed as unfair taxation without representation, further escalating tensions between the colonies and Great Britain.