The key issue that led to the Boston Tea Party was the imposition of taxes without representation. In 1773, the British Parliament granted the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies while maintaining a tax on tea. This angered colonists who felt it was unfair to be taxed by a government in which they had no representation. The protest escalated when the Sons of Liberty, a group of American patriots, staged a dramatic response by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. This act of defiance was pivotal in escalating tensions between Britain and the colonies, eventually leading to the American Revolution.