The 92,000 pounds of tea spilled into the port following the Boston Tea Party made the harbor stink for weeks. The British blocked off Boston Harbor as a consequence of the Boston Tea Party till all 340 chests of British East India Company tea were compensated for. This was enacted as part of the Intolerable Acts of 1774 and is recognized as the Boston Port Act. The Intolerable Acts infuriated and united the American colonists in their opposition to British authority even more. The Intolerable Acts also enacted the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act, in addition to the Boston Port Act.

In September and October 1774, American colonists reacted with marches and concerted opposition by calling the First Continental Congress to ask Britain to abolish the Intolerable Acts. The Boston Tea Party was the first major act of resistance by colonists in the United States. The Boston Tea Party had significant ramifications and consequences, ultimately igniting the American Revolution, which began on April 19, 1775, in Massachusetts.