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When the British government began to lay duties on the import of tropical products in order to meet the heavy debt incurred in the British colonial war against France, this policy was passionately resented in the colonies. On the principle of "no taxation without representation" (i.e. in Parliament), the colonies opposed the Stamp Act, a tax imposed on newspapers and legal documents. In 1773, the cargo of three English tea ships in Boston harbour was thrown into the sea by colonists disguised as Indians, an incident which later became known as the "Boston Tea Party". When the British government answered by closing the harbour and curtailing the rights of Massachusetts government, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 to discuss united resistance.
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