Question: who were two of the patriots that led the throwing of tea into the boston harbor

title: Boston Tea Party
text: The Indemnity Act of 1767 , which gave the East India Company a refund of the duty on tea that was re-exported to the colonies , expired in 1772 . Parliament passed a new act in 1772 that reduced this refund , effectively leaving a 10 % duty on tea imported into Britain . The act also restored the tea taxes within Britain that had been repealed in 1767 , and left in place the three pence Townshend duty in the colonies . With this new tax burden driving up the price of British tea , sales plummeted . The company continued to import tea into Great Britain , however , amassing a huge surplus of product that no one would buy . For these and other reasons , by late 1772 the East India Company , one of Britain 's most important commercial institutions , was in a serious financial crisis . The severe famine in Bengal from 1769 to 1773 had drastically reduced the revenue of the East India Company from India bringing the Company to the verge of bankruptcy and the Tea Act of 1773 was enacted to help the East India Company .