From 1754-1763, Britain and its colonies were involved in the French and Indian War—the American theater of Europe’s Seven Years' War (1754-63). Britain won the war and gained control of all the land east of the Mississippi, including Canada. But after years of costly war, the British found themselves strangled in war debt. So, they enacted a series of acts to tax the colonies. The colonies protested. But the British ignored colonial interests.
In 1770, British soldiers killed five men for throwing rocks and snowballs in the Boston Massacre. Three years after the Boston Massacre, Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773, which gave the British a monopoly on selling tea to the American colonies. This means the British controlled the tea trade, keeping other competitors from participating. The British monopoly made the price of tea so low that even smugglers couldn't compete.
Based on the passage, which of the following would be an example of a monopoly?
A
A businesswoman opens a bookstore in her neighborhood and invites her neighbors to invest in her new store.
B
A baker buys up all the sugar in town to make sure that his bakery is the only one that can sell cupcakes.
C
A pilot spends her days off learning how to fly a new type of plane so that she can apply to fly that plane in the future.
D
A hardware store owner is famous for giving the best home improvement advice to his customers.
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