The Boston Tea Party
It was a cold night on December 16, 1773. A merchant ship rocked back and forth in the dark waters of Boston Harbor, icicles forming on its anchor cable. Suddenly, dozens of torches lit the docks, as men poorly disguised as Indians tramped over the planks and leapt onto the ship. In the hold were wooden crates containing the ship’s cargo. The men tore the crates open, dumping pound after pound of powdery brown tea leaves into the harbor.
Many of us recognize this scene as the famous Boston Tea Party. In the mid- 1700’s, Britain was still recovering from the Seven Year’s war. This war had all but drained the royal treasury. To make up for the loss, King George III imposed taxes on various goods sold in the American Colonies. Such things as marriage licenses, glass, stamps, and even playing cards were taxed. This caused no small amount of anger in the colonies, especially in Boston, where the townspeople were known to be very protective of their rights. The colonists denounced the tax as unjust, saying that they had been allowed no voice in the matter. The cost was also an issue; the tax alone was 4 shillings per pound of tea, roughly equivalent to 15 dollars today.
To keep the peace, the King and Parliament repealed all the taxes except the tea tax. This was more of a display of royal defiance than anything else; it was George’s way of saying, “Ha! I’m still in charge!”
This only served to further enrage the colonists. Troops were sent to maintain order, but the men of Boston attacked them one night, throwing snowballs, sticks and rocks so that the soldiers fired their muskets point- blank into the crowd, killing several. The event was later called the Boston Massacre.
Ships of the East India Company, laden with tea, were anchored in the harbor, but the colonists refused to let them unload. Samuel Adams, a leading protester, sent one last petition for the tea to be removed. The petition was denied. Adams informed his friends of this at a meeting. It was decided upon to act.
That night, while onlookers cheered, 50 men disguised as Mohawk Indians (the disguise was meant only to conceal their identity rather than focus blame on the Indians) broke into three ships harbored at Griffin’s Wharf and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor for the fish to drink. About $1,700,000 worth of tea was destroyed.
The king was enraged. The colonists were defiant. War was on its way and it would change the world.
Source: French, Allen. “The Siege of Boston.”
