This political cartoon, published by a British newspaper, shows a tax collector being tarred, feathered, and forced to drink tea by a group of rebellious Bostonians. The Tea Act, a tax on printed paper, hangs upside down on a tree. The tree also holds a waiting noose. In the background, rebels dump tea into the harbor. Though no stamp commissioner was actually tarred and feathered, this Medieval brutality was a popular form of 18th century mob violence in Great Britain, particularly against tax collectors. Tea Act of 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. The Act granted the Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, although the tax imposed by the Townshend Acts and collected in the colonies remained in force. Colonists in the Thirteen Colonies recognized the implications of the Act's provisions, and a coalition of merchants, smugglers, and artisans similar to that which had opposed the Stamp Act 1765 mobilized opposition to delivery and distribution of the tea.