Final answer:
The statement is true; Patriots were upset as the Tea Act of 1773 undercut their smuggling operations by allowing the East India Company to sell cheaper tea, thus leading to the Boston Tea Party.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Patriots were angry because they would not be able to sell their smuggled tea once the East India Company tea made it to Boston is true.
The Tea Act of 1773 granted the East India Company a virtual monopoly over the sale of tea in the colonies by allowing them to sell tea without paying taxes that colonists were required to pay. This undercut local merchants and smugglers who had been profiting from selling tea independently.
The resulting cheaper prices of the East India Company's tea threatened the livelihoods of these colonial merchants and smugglers, who had been evading taxes themselves and selling tea at higher prices
. Their anger and resentment were among the driving forces behind the notorious event known as the Boston Tea Party, during which they protested by boarding British tea ships and dumping the tea into Boston Harbor.