"THE DESTRUCTION IS SO BOLD IT MUST HAVE IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES"

SONS OF LIBERTY GIVE A TEA PARTY

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On December 16, 1773, Sons of Liberty here in Boston gave a tea party in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773.  The legislation gave a monopoly on the sale of tea in the American colonies to the British East India Company.*

Members of the group, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea from three ships of the British tea company docked in Boston Harbor. The ships sailed into the city in November and were ordered by Governor Thomas Hutchinson to remain "tied up" at Griffin's Wharf.

Thomas Fleming writes that about fifty men boarded the ships on the night of December 16, 1773 followed by a large crowd.  The "indians" broke apart the chests and shoveled the loose tea into the harbor.

It was over in three hours.  Nothing was harmed but the tea, and future POTUS John Adams wrote that there was a "dignity and majesty" about the event.  He added...

"This destruction...is so bold, so daring, so firm...it must have important consequences."**

*While the tea act lowered the price of tea, it maintained the tax and forced the colonists, in buying the tea with the tax included, to accept the principle of taxation by Parliament.  Americans drank 1.2 million pounds of tea annually with 275,000 pounds imported from England & 925,000 pounds smuggled in from Holland.

**The Boston Tea Party led to the passage of the Coercive Acts, known in the Colonies as the Intolerable Acts, which punished the city of Boston and the colony of Massachusetts for the deed.  Both the Tea Party and Coercive Acts were important causes leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

SOURCE

"Liberty! The American Revolution," by Thomas Fleming, Viking Publishers, 1997.

Visit to Boston Tea Party Museum

Boston, Massachusetts

October 1987

JFK'S LOVE OF LIBERTY

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1799

JFK'S LOVE OF LIBERTY CAME NATURALLY

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) As President of the United States during the Cold War, John F. Kennedy often spoke about the importance of liberty both in the nation and around the world.  JFK's love of liberty came naturally.  He was born in a city where the seeds of American liberty were sewn, Boston, Massachusetts.

Two hundred forty-two years ago this evening, December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty* boarded three British East India Company ships (Beaver, Dartmouth, & Eleanor) docked at Griffin's Wharf and destroyed 342 chests of tea in protest of the British Tea Act of 1773 which gave a monopoly on the sale of imported tea to the American colonies to the British company.

While the tea act effectively lowered the price of tea, it maintained the tax and forced the colonists, in buying the tea and paying the tax, to accept the principle of taxation by the British Parliament.  Since the colonists had no representatives in that body, they argued that this was "taxation without representation."

Approximately 200 men were involved in the tea party, many dressed as Mohawk Indians and carrying a variety of axes.  The purpose of the disguise was to protect the individual identities of the participants.

 One of the men, identified as George Hewes, said...

"In about 3 hours from the time we went on board, we...had...thrown overboard every tea chest to be found."

The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum says that 92,000 pounds of tea were destroyed which would have a value today of $1,700,000.  Other than the tea itself and a broken padlock, no damage was done to the ships or their crews.  In fact, the "indians" were very careful to sweep the decks clean and put everything back in place after the "party."

Today, on the 242nd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, free admission will be offered to visitors to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and there will also be a parade.

The Boston Tea Party led to the passage of the Coercive Acts, known as the Intolerable Acts in America, which punished the city of Boston and the colony of Massachusetts for the deed.Both the Tea Party and Coercive Acts were important causes leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

*Sons of Liberty was a secret colonial society founded by Samuel Adams to protect the rights of Americans and to fight against British taxation laws.  The group included John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere and Joseph Warren.

SOURCE

"Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum," www.bostonteapartyship.com

Boston Tea Party 

Ships & Museum

35mm Slide

Photo by John White (1987)

John White 

Boston Tea Party

Ships & Museum 

October 1987

Boston Tea Party

Ships & Museum

Photo by John White

October 1987