There was a boatswain’s
whistle, and in silence one group boarded the Dartmouth. The Eleanor and the
Beaver had to be warped in to the wharf. Johnny was close to Mr. Revere’s
heels. He heard him calling for the captain, promising him, in the jargon everyone
talked that night, that not one thing should be damaged on the ship except only
the tea, but the captain and all his crew had best stay in the cabin until the
work was over.
Captain Hall shrugged and did
as he was told, leaving his cabin boy to hand over the keys to the hold. The
boy was grinning with pleasure. The ‘tea party’ was not unexpected.
Excerpt
from Johnny
Tremain by Esther Forbes
And
thus began the most famous Tea Party in American history when the underground
resistance group known as the Sons of Liberty dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into
Boston Harbor on the 16th of December, 1773. The group of
dissenters, dressed up like Mohawk Indians, were spurred on by Samuel Adams as
a protest against the Tea Act of 1773. This law, which was enacted by the
British Parliament, gave the East India Tea Company a virtual monoply over tea
sales in the colonies.
In
the eyes of the Massachusetts colonists, who had already endured one tax after
another, this was one tax too many. The efforts of Parliament to recoup monies
lost in the French and Indian War had now backfired, as the Colonials believed
their rights as British citizens were being lost one by one.
Resistance
to the Tea Act was active throughout the colonies but the East India Tea
Company proceeded to send 500,000 pounds of tea across the Atlantic in
September, 1773. Due to pressure from local patriot groups in the cities of
Charleston, New York and Philadelphia, shipments of tea from England were
refused by the local merchants. But in Boston, several relatives of the
Crown-appointed Governor Hutchinson ruled the marketplace and they did not
concede to the local patriots who tried to send the tea back to England. The
patriots refused to pay the tax on the cargo. But the Governor in Massachusetts
insisted that the taxes be paid and the tea stay put.
The Sons of Liberty decided otherwise as 342
wooden crates holding tea leaves were hatcheted open in front of thousands of
silent observers lining Griffin’s Wharf at midnight.
No one was injured in the protest and it is
said that the rebels swept up the decks of the ship afterwards. Since the ships
were actually owned by Americans, and not the British, the pseudo-Indians had
no quarrel with the shipowners.
In
The
Boston Campaign, April 1775 – March 1776, Victor Brooks writes, “…when
the ‘Mohawks’ in Boston responded to this direct challenge by dumping the hated
tea in the harbor, each side correctly saw the event as a watershed in the
history of Britain’s rule over the colonies and as a clear prelude to military
confrontation between parliament and the American provinces.”
It was just a little over a year later
(April of 1775) when full-scale war broke out between the colonies and England.
It was a conflict that lasted nearly eight years.
The
people of Massachusetts and all the colonies soon acquired a taste for coffee.
The
Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, in celebration of this occasion, allow
costumed re-enactors to participate in throwing tea into the sea every year on
December 16. Watch their video here.
Huzzah!
Elaine, this is a great post. I LOVE the Boston Tea party (and its actually part of my novel!). Anyway, I have been thinking about the 240 year anniversary and I LOVE to remember what our ancestors were willing to do in the name of freedom. Thanks again for a great post!
ReplyDeleteAmber
Amber, I can't wait to read your novel! And yes, the Boston Tea Party is AMAZING! Wouldn't it be fun to participate with the re-enactors??? :) Thanks for coming by!
DeleteGreat post, Elaine. The Tea Party is a fascinating part of our history. It is amazing to think what lengths folks will go to when they believe they are losing their liberty and are not fairly being represented by those in authority. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteIt was that one tax too many. You can only push folks so far before they react. Thanks for stopping by. :)
DeleteSharing this one on Facebook! A great post with so many correlations to current events.
ReplyDelete