Boston Tea Party

On the night of December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty boarded three merchant ships moored at Griffin's Wharf in Boston Harbor and threw hundreds of chests of British East India Company tea into the water — an act of political defiance that reverberated across the Thirteen Colonies and helped ignite the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party marked a critical moment in the history of the American Revolution as an act of colonial defiance against British rule. Originally called "The Destruction of the Tea," the moniker "Boston Tea Party" gained popularity in the early 19th century as the event took on a legendary status in American history. To this day, the event remains one of the defining episodes in Boston's story and in the broader founding of the United States.

Background and Causes

Tensions regarding taxation in America had been rising since 1763, when Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years' War and making Britain the dominant imperial power in North America. After this date, the British Parliament sought to tax their subjects in America to recover from a costly war with France and to better defend these colonies from future invasion.

In 1763, Great Britain won the French and Indian War after nine long years. However, British victory came with a hefty price. Parliament began to levy taxes on the North American colonies to pay for the debts incurred by the war. The colonists, who until now had largely maintained the prerogative of self-government, did not take kindly to Parliament's sudden interest in taxing the colonies. As animosity grew, Boston became a hotbed for revolutionary activity and anti-British sentiment. Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in 1767, which levied a new series of taxes, to repress such activity.

The earlier Townshend Acts placed duties on a range of imports to the colonies. These had been repealed; however, the tax on tea remained. A Tea Act was passed in the spring of 1773 to help the East India Company, which faced financial difficulties, and enabled its control of the trade in tea. Specifically, to aid the failing company, thwart the smuggling of Dutch tea, and reassert its authority to levy taxes on the colonies, Parliament authorized the Tea Act on 10 May 1773. Tea sold in America would carry no duty for the East India Company; instead, the tea would be taxed at the point of entry in colonial ports. Consignees, or special agents, were appointed in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston to receive and sell the tea.

In simplest terms, the Boston Tea Party happened as a result of "taxation without representation," yet the cause is more complex than that. The American colonists believed Britain was unfairly taxing them to pay for expenses incurred during the French and Indian War. Additionally, colonists believed Parliament did not have the right to tax them because the American colonies were not represented in Parliament.

The Ships Arrive and Tensions Mount

On Sunday, 28 November, the Dartmouth, carrying 114 chests of tea, arrived in Boston Harbor. A meeting, open to all Bostonians and anyone from neighboring towns who chose to attend, was called at Faneuil Hall. When the crowd swelled, it adjourned to Old South Meeting House. The Body spoke, demanding that the tea be returned, and the assembly appointed a watch of 25 men to guard Griffin's Wharf.

In New York and Philadelphia, the ships were turned away; while in Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was left to rot on the wharf. Boston's situation was different. In Boston, however, the royal governor Thomas Hutchinson determined to uphold the law and maintained that three arriving ships — the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver — should be allowed to deposit their cargoes and that appropriate duties should be honored.

On December 15, 1773, the Beaver, the last of the three ships sailing from London, England, arrived at Griffin's Wharf in Boston. The Beaver was delayed due to a case of smallpox which broke out onboard, and she was held in quarantine for two weeks in Boston's outer harbor.

The law was clear: if the duty on the Dartmouth's tea was not paid by 17 December, the customs officer was authorized to seize the ship and its cargo. With time running out and Governor Hutchinson refusing to allow the ships to return to England, incited by the Sons of Liberty, over 5,000 people gathered at the Old South Meeting House, the largest public building in Boston at the time, at 10:00 AM on December 16, 1773, to decide what was to be done about the tea and to plan the Boston Tea Party.

The Night of December 16, 1773

On December 16, the last day of the Dartmouth's deadline, approximately 5,000 to 7,000 people out of an estimated population of 16,000 gathered around Old South Meeting House. After receiving a report that Governor Hutchinson had again refused to let the ships leave, Adams announced, "This meeting can do nothing further to save the country."

Later that evening, 30 to 130 men — most of whom belonged to the Sons of Liberty — boarded the three tea ships. Some disguised themselves as Mohawk warriors to conceal their identities. They pried open the 342 chests with axes and dumped the tea overboard into the water. The operation was meticulously organized. According to historical accounts, the Tea Party was an efficient, concerted effort. Each participant fulfilled a specific role. The men on the deck of the ships smashed the chests open while others stood at the railing to heave the chests overboard. A small contingent of men stood watch to prevent anyone from interfering with their mission. They also ensured no one from their own ranks stole the tea or destroyed additional property.

The chests held more than 90,000 lbs. (45 tons) of tea, which would cost nearly $1,000,000 dollars today. Notably, contrary to popular belief, the British East India Company tea the Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor transported to Boston was not from India. The tea the Sons of Liberty dumped into Boston Harbor was in fact from China.

No one was hurt, and aside from the destruction of the tea and a padlock, no property was damaged or looted during the Boston Tea Party. The participants reportedly swept the ships' decks clean before they left. Though led by Samuel Adams and his Sons of Liberty, the names of many of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain unknown. Thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and imprisoned. Even after American independence, participants refused to reveal their identities, fearing they could still face civil and criminal charges as well as condemnation from elites for the destruction of private property.

The vast majority of participants were of English descent, but men of Irish, Scottish, French, Portuguese, and African ancestry were documented to have also participated. The participants were of all ages, but the majority of documented participants was under the age of forty. Sixteen participants were teenagers, and only nine men were above the age of forty.

The Sons of Liberty and Key Figures

The Boston Tea Party was organized and carried out by a group of Patriots led by Samuel Adams known as the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty were made up of males from all walks of colonial society, and among its membership were artisans, craftsmen, business owners, tradesmen, apprentices, and common laborers who organized to defend their rights, and to protest and undermine British rule. Famous Boston Patriots who were members of the Sons of Liberty included John Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, Josiah Quincy, Paul Revere, and Dr. Joseph Warren.

When the sun rose on December 17 to reveal 342 crates of tea floating in the harbor, Governor Thomas Hutchinson condemned it as an act of treason. Though his role in the event is ambiguous, Samuel Adams worked tirelessly to publicize the Tea Party. He ardently promoted it as an act of defense against British taxation and a last resort to save colonial rights.

Colonial leaders were divided in their reactions. John Adams praised the Tea Party as a brave "exertion of popular power." Other colonial leaders like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington disapproved. Franklin felt the interlopers should compensate the East India Company for the damaged tea, while Washington believed the Tea Party to be a flagrant overstep by the Sons of Liberty.

A second Boston Tea Party took place in March 1774, when around 60 Bostonians boarded the ship Fortune and dumped nearly 30 chests of tea into the harbor.

British Response: The Intolerable Acts

The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, known colloquially throughout America as the Intolerable Acts, as retribution for the Tea Party; the acts closed Boston Harbor to trade, curtailed free elections in Massachusetts, and essentially instituted martial law. Prime Minister Lord North was resolute: "Whatever may be the consequence," he reportedly said, "we must risk something; if we do not, all is over."

These punitive measures included closing Boston's harbour until restitution was made for the tea, reducing the Massachusetts Bay Colony to a crown colony with appointed, rather than elected, officials, and allowing the quartering of troops in vacant buildings across British North America. The measures became the justification for convening the First Continental Congress later in 1774.

In February 1774, the tea ship captains arrived in England and were summoned to testify before the Privy Council; since they were not able to identify individuals responsible for the destruction of the tea, the government decided to punish the entire town of Boston. Until the East India Company was reimbursed for its loss, the port of Boston would be closed.

Colonists throughout the Thirteen Colonies responded to the Intolerable Acts with additional acts of protest, and by convening the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which sent a Petition to the King for repeal of the acts and coordinated colonial resistance. Less than two years later, on April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, also in Massachusetts, launched the eight-year American Revolutionary War, which resulted in the independence of the colonies as the United States.

Legacy and Commemoration in Boston

The Boston Tea Party's influence on American culture and political thought endured long after the harbor waters of Boston cleared. John Adams and many other Americans considered tea drinking to be unpatriotic following the Boston Tea Party. Tea drinking declined during and after the Revolution, resulting in a shift to coffee as the preferred hot drink.

The original location of the Boston Tea Party no longer exists because of extensive landfills that destroyed the location. This was caused by the city of Boston's rapid expansion in the 19th century. The exact location of the original Griffin's Wharf is open to debate, but the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, located on the Congress Street Bridge, is located near the approximate area where the Boston Tea Party took place. A historical marker commemorating the Boston Tea Party stands on the corner of Congress and Purchase streets.

The event's name itself carries historical significance. The ironic name succinctly captures the combination of locality (Boston), the commodity involved (tea), and the nature of the event — a political "party" or gathering, in this case as a form of protest. The Boston Tea Party moved the American colonies one step closer to war with Great Britain and eventual independence, cementing Boston's place at the heart of the American founding story.