What did the colonists think the tea would do?

The colonists felt that by throwing over the British tea, that the British would respond by taking the taxes off of the tea. The colonists were trying to upset the British after the British began taxing them for their goods to help make up for the cost of a war that was not their fault. 

When it ended up causing the  Boston Tea Party but, they thought that if they forced them to take the tea they would pay against there will.