Final answer:
The Tea Act of 1773 was a law by the British Parliament to aid the British East India Company by allowing direct tea sales to American colonies, sparking colonial protest over 'taxation without representation' and leading to the historical Boston Tea Party.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Tea Act of 1773 was a significant piece of legislation enacted by the British Parliament. Its primary intention was to rescue the financially struggling British East India Company by allowing it to sell tea directly to the American colonies. This act ultimately made tea cheaper for colonists by eliminating the duties on tea imported into England and allowing the East India Company to bypass colonial merchants, thereby undercutting the price of smuggled Dutch tea. However, the Tea Act also maintained the Townshend duties on tea, leading to protests from colonists who viewed the policy as an assertion of Parliamentary taxation without representation.
Colonial outrage over the Tea Act was due to various factors including, the monopoly created for the East India Company, the principle stand against 'no taxation without representation', and the potential loss of income for colonial merchants dealing in smuggled tea. The widespread colonial resistance to the Tea Act ultimately culminated in the infamous Boston Tea Party, an act of defiance that escalated tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies, setting the stage for the American Revolutionary War.