Mike Parker: Saturday marked 250th anniversary of ‘Boston Tea Party’

Saturday, December 16, marked the 250th anniversary of the “Boston Tea Party.” This political protest occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing a tax on tea – then the favorite beverage of British colonists – called the action “taxation without representation.” The protesters dumped 342 chests of British East India tea into the harbor.

This event marked the first significant act of defying British rule over the American colonies and demonstrated to Great Britain that Americans would not tolerate tyranny through taxation. The Boston Tea Party also served as a rallying point for American patriots throughout the 13 colonies to fight for their independence.

On the night of December 16, a large group of men, many of whom were members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised themselves as Native Americans, boarded the ships moored in the harbor, and threw chests of tea into the water.

One participant, George Hewes, said, “We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose them to the effects of the water.”

Hewes also noted that although they “were surrounded by British armed ships,” no one attempted to resist those who boarded the vessels.

The roughly 100 men worked for nearly three hours to empty the tea into Boston Harbor. The chests held over 90,000 pounds of tea worth nearly $1,000,000 in today’s money.

Some influential colonial leaders, such as John Adams, were thrilled to learn Boston Harbor was covered in tea leaves; others were not. In June 1774, George Washington wrote: “The cause of Boston…ever will be considered as the cause of America.”

But Washington’s personal views were far different from his public expressions. He voiced strong disapproval of “their conduct in destroying the Tea” and claimed Bostonians “were mad [crazy].” Like many others of his time, Washington believed private property ownership was a sacred right. Benjamin Franklin insisted someone should reimburse the British East India Company for the lost tea. Franklin even offered to pay for the loss of the value of the tea himself.

The Boston Tea Party was not a riot. No one was hurt during the destruction of the tea. Except for the destruction of the tea and a padlock on the cargo hold, no other property suffered damage, and no looting took place. Those who participated even swept clean the decks of the ships before the party-goers left.

But despite the lack of violence, King George III and the British Parliament took offense and immediately passed the Coercive Acts, which the colonists later called the Intolerable Acts.

Some of the “intolerable” provisions closed Boston Harbor until the price of the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party was paid for; nullified the Massachusetts Constitution and abolished free elections of town officials; allocated judicial authority to Britain and British judges alone, creating a form of martial law in Massachusetts; and required colonists to quarter British troops on demand.

Britain hoped the Coercive Acts would end the rebellion in New England and keep the remaining colonies from uniting. Of course, just the opposite happened. All the colonies viewed these punitive laws as further evidence of Britain’s tyranny and rallied by sending supplies to Massachusetts and plotting additional colonial resistance.

In less than three years, the colonies went from holding a “tea party” in Boston Harbor to fighting an all-out war against one of the mightiest military powers on earth.

The Boston Tea Party teaches us lessons we ignore to our peril.

How much do we value individual liberty?

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com. For a more in-depth look at the Boston Tea Party, visit this link on the History website: https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party