The main consequence of the Boston Tea Party, which took place in December 1773, was escalating tensions between the American colonies and the British government. Colonial rebels protested against the unfair taxation imposed by the Tea Act by dumping an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor. This act of defiance spurred the British government to retaliate with the Intolerable Acts, further uniting the colonies against British rule and becoming a pivotal event leading up to the American Revolution.