Sparks ~ Boston Tea Party

In the journals cataloged to the right, readers will find first hand accounts of the Boston Tea Party. Readers may find it helpful to review the historical facts of this event before exploring the primary documents.

The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773. The Townshend Acts, first passed in 1767, were a tax that was placed on goods such as glass, lead, metals, paint, and tea. The tax on the tea really angered the colonists.

Eventually King George III, the King of England, realized that it would be difficult to collect the tax on these items. In 1770, the Townshend acts were repealed on every thing except tea. This made the colonists very angry because they were being taxed without representation in Parliament. The tax itself was only three pence.

In 1772, the East India Tea Company asked Parliament for three things to help keep the company alive: permission to sell their goods directly to the colonies; repeal of import duties at home and in the colonies; and for a loan from the government.

In 1773, Parliament gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly over the English tea but they did not drop the import tax. The tax on tea was to show the colonies who was in charge. On November 26, 1773, a ship called the Dartmouth arrived in Boston harbor. It was later followed by two other ships named The Beaver and The Eleanor. Mr. Rotch was the captain of the Dartmouth. When his ship docked, the Patriots of the town were harassing him. They demanded that he take his ships back to England.

On December 16, 1773 a meeting took place at the Old South Meeting House. Patriots and Loyalists met to debate whether the tea should be unloaded. Patriots wanted the tea to be returned and the Loyalists wanted the tea to be unloaded. Over 5,000 men were in the Old South Meeting House during the meeting. There were people outside looking in through the windows. During the meeting they sent Mr. Rotch on a long trip to Milton, Massachusetts where Governor Hutchinson was staying. Mr. Rotch asked if he could have permission to leave Boston safely without being shot at. The Governor said no.

When Mr. Rotch returned to the South Meeting House he told the Patriots and the Loyalists the governor's response. At that point, Samuel Adams said, “This meeting can do nothing more to save our country.” That was the signal to the Patriots to carry out the plan to dump the tea off of the ships.

Two-hundred people dressed as Mohawk Indians took part in the dumping of the tea. When they boarded the ships they dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

On June 1, 1774, in response to the destruction of the tea, Parliament closed Boston harbor until the damages done by the tea party could be repaid.