Boston Tea Party Article

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.