The Boston Tea Party
American Revolution Articles- Road to Revolution Edition
Article 6
December16, 1773
The British Parliament only allowed
the colonists to buy tea from them. On
top of that, they put a tax on the tea
that they were buying. This made the
colonists very angry, and so many
colonists boycotted, and refused to buy
British tea.
In late November and early
December of 1773, three ships arrived in
the Boston Harbor. The tea tax was to
be paid as soon as the cargo was
unloaded from the ship. The colonists
did not want to pay the tax, and so they refused to allow the cargo to be
unloaded. Samuel Adams called a meeting and the Patriots decided that they
would demand that the ship be sent back to England. Governor Thomas
Hutchinson refused this demand. The Sons of Liberty felt they had no other
option but to destroy the tea to avoid paying the dreaded tea tax. They
organized three groups, one for each ship. Over 200 men helped with this
endeavor, including Paul Revere.
The Patriots dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. This does
not sound like a lot, but it was dried tea and totaled 90,000 pounds. It was
actually worth a lot of money. Today, it would be around $1 million worth of tea!
It was stated that nothing, other than the tea, was destroyed. The Patriots did
not hurt the crew or captain, nor did they destroy the ship. They dumped the
tea and left.
While many Patriots agreed with what happened the night of the Boston
Tea Party, there were many colonists who did not believe this was the right thing
to do. Either way, this event got the attention of the colonists and the king.