History of The Boston Tea Party
A very historical event in U.S history happened on December 16, 1773 it would be known has The Boston Tea Party. Some American patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded ships in the Boston Harbor belonging to the British East India Company and threw 342 chest of tea into the water. Their reasons for doing so were because they were protesting the tax on tea (Taxation without representation). This would also unite the colonist in the colonies more than ever before.
It all started with the Townshend Acts that were passed by parliament in 1767 which were composed of four acts that was basically an attempt to assert its historical right to the colonies through strict collection provisions of revenue duties. In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act that was to financially help the East India Company. The Tea Act that Britain had passed added a monopoly on the tea that they were shipping to the colonies. The tea that Britain was sending over to the colonist was only to be carries by the company known as the East India Company. The company could then sell the tea in the colonies at a less than usual price that then led to colonial merchants to form an alliance with the radicals that were being led by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty.
In a few cities in the colonies like New York some tea agents even resigned or just flat out canceled their orders of tea. All of the acts expect the Tea Act were repelled after the colonist resisted them with verbal agitation, physical violence and acts of violence towards British enforcement agents. The royal governor who was Thomas Hutcherson determined to maintain the law and that the three ships that would be arriving to the Boston Harbor the Beaver, Eleanor and Dartmouth should then have the right to deposit their crates of tea. Then on December 16, 1773, a group of around 60 men (The Sons of Liberty) boarded the ships wearing their Indian disguises and dumped all 362 chest of tea into the waters of the Boston harbor. The tea they dumped was valued at around $1 million.
The Boston Tea Party Played a significant role in U.S. History due to the fact that it was one of the first major events that led to the revolution, since this was the first time the colonist started fighting back. After the Boston tea party, the colonist started to become more independent and confident that they could do just fine being separated from Britain. Which then all of this events of course led to the Revolutionary War then to the signing of the most important document in United States history. Even though the Boston Tea Party didn’t really instant results, but it lit a fire in the colonist hearts to give them the courage that they needed to standup to the big old bully Great Britain and fight for their right to have independence and freedom. Without this ever happening who knows maybe the colonist never would have had the courage to standup for their rights?
One thing I found while researching and found it quite interesting that not one person ended up dying during all of this cause me personally I just it funny how there was one person that got injured and they thought that he was dead so they hid him under a pile of wood in a close by shop but turns out he wasn’t dead. He regained consciousness a few hours after and was the only person said to be injured during the Boston Tea Party. I also seen where there was only one guy who got punished due to the fact that someone gave an anonymous tip and the guy was then stripped, tarred and feathered. After all that happened not one person ever came forward with any information. I just was always under the speculation that no one ever actually would get caught due to the fact they couldn’t actually identify them with all the native American disguises on but I guess I was wrong.
The Boston Harbor was also shut down for a couple weeks after all the tea was dumped into the harbor it then caused the harbor to smell. The harbor was then shut down until all 340 chest of tea was paid that was dumped during the Boston Tea Party. Another Boston Tea Party happened three months later on March 1774, 60 men disguised themselves and bored a shipped named the Fortune the slung 30 chest of tea overboard but since it was such a smaller protest, but due to it being a smaller protest it didn’t end up getting all the attention since it was a much smaller protest unlike the Boston tea party that happened a few months earlier. Even though it was named the British East India Company the tea didn’t actually come from India turns out that the tea they dumped came from China. The tea that was destroyed in the Boston tea party was described as “Bohea”. In the 18th century black tea was referred to as Bohea, it was a variety of black tea that came from the Wuyi Mountains in the Chinese province of Fujian.
A popular belief was that the ships that brought the tea to were British made ships but turns out the ships were built by Americans and owned by them but the tea they were carry from London and Boston was owned by the British East India Company. Researching for this paper I found a lot of things I never even knew about the Boston Tea Party it was pretty cool to find out there was actually a second Boston Tea Party and the tea didn’t actually come from India but instead it came from china.
The Boston Tea Party was a major event in American History. It played a major role in Revolutionary war as it helped the colonist gain the courage that they needed to help them first began to stand up to the evil bullies over in Britain that thought that they could just control the people over in the colonies like the owned them. Without out it happening who knows maybe the colonist never would have had the courage to stand up to them? I enjoyed finding out all the neat things that I never knew and I am glad I picked the Boston Tea party.
Work Cited Page
“Boston Tea Party Facts | Boston History.” Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
“Boston Tea Party.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
“The Importance of the Boston Tea Party » Independence Day » Surfnetkids.” Independence Day » Surfnetkids. N.p., 06 May 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.