Comment by anywhichway

That's absurd. That doesn't pass the sniff test at all for being remotely true that people would react like that to only a 3 percent tax.

I looked it up, and it was a 3 pence tax per pound. When tea was selling for 2 to 3 pence per pound. So yeah, a 100-150% tax combined with the fact that the East India Company was allowed to sell without paying the tax. That is very unjust and threatens their business a lot more than the tax alone.