Poorly disguised as Indians, Americans signaled their opposition to the Tea Act of 1773 by destroying British Tea in Boston harbor on December 16, 1773. This action renewed the controversy between Britain and its American colonies. The Tea Act made available inexpensive tea because of marketing privileges granted to the near-bankrupt British East India Company. Colonists, however, resented the monopoly of the tea trade by selected merchants and payment of the sole tax remaining from the Townshend Acts. The band of colonists boarded three vessels in Boston harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water, with a value of 9,000 pounds. Similar tea parties occurred elsewhere in the colonies. Honoring the event is this set of four stamps with a continuous design that flows among the stamps.