Published on 16 July 2023 at 18:14

For my third weekly spread in July, I chose the Liberty Kids Episode on The Boston Tea Party.

When Tea became popular in both Britian and The Colonies parliament passed a law that all tea imported from China had to come through the East India Company.

Parliament also passed the Townshend Revenue Act and the Tea Tax Act which led to many protests and boycotts, with many English and Americans vowing to abstain from drinking tea in favor of Labrador tea made from the Rhododendron Flower.

To calm the boycotts and Protest, and with the full support of King George the East India Company cut out the middleman and were allowed to sell directly to the merchants who would work off of commissions. There would however be a tax of £1,750 (equal to £237,993 today) to be paid by the importers when the cargo landed. it also added a tax of 3 pennies on every pound of tea for the colonist. In September and October 1773, seven ships carrying East India Company tea were sent to the colonies.

The ships carried more than 2,000 chests containing nearly 600,000 pounds of tea. Americans learned the details of the Tea Act while the ships were en route.

Enraged by the Tea Act the Sons of Liberty, or the Whigs began a campaign to bring awareness to the unfair tax.

After many protests and resignations from the merchants, many of the ships turned back with their cargo still intact.

However, in late November the Dartmouth arrived in Boston leading Samuel Addams to call a meeting.

Due to the large number of people the meeting was forced to move from The Faneuil Hall to The Old South Meeting House. They urged the Captain of the Dartmouth to return to England and placed a guard of twenty-five men to protect their cargo. Ships had a certain number of days to unload or be fined.

Governor Hutchenson refused to allow the ship to leave. On December 16th 5,000^]–7,000 out of the 16,000 residents gathered at Samuel Adams signal of “This meeting can do nothing further to save the country.”

The numbers are unclear but up to 130 people donned Native American war paint and feathers and boarded the Dartmouth and two other ships that had arrived that day.

Over the course of three hours, they threw 342 chests containing over 92,000 pounds of tea into the water. The loss of money was approximately £9,659 or $1,700,000 dollars in today’s money.

Samuel Adams and the people made a stand for freedom that day that changed our country. He declared that the Tea Party was not the act of a lawless mob but was instead a principled protest and the only remaining option the people had to defend their constitutional rights.

Founding father John Adams wrote in his diary on December 17, 1773 

This is the most magnificent Movement of all. There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity, in this last Effort of the Patriots, that I greatly admire. The People should never rise, without doing something to be remembered—something notable And striking. This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an Epocha in History.

In February 1775, Britain passed the Conciliatory Resolution which ended taxation for any colony that satisfactorily provided for the imperial defense and the upkeep of imperial officers. A victory for the colonist!

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