Taxes. We are all familiar with them. We all understand that we are required to pay taxes and every individual has their own tax rate based on the amount of money you earn. When the government raises taxes we complain. Raising taxes puts a strain on individuals and small businesses. Some people may even argue that when the government raises taxes it is just a way of them enforcing power over us and taking our hard earned money to make up for financial mistakes that they have made. Maybe this is how the people of Boston felt during the time that lead up to the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
In the time period ranging from 1765-1773, King George III enforced several taxes on the American colonists to make up for the money that had been spent on the French and Indian War. He started with the Stamp Act in 1765 and the the Townsend Acts in 1767. These taxes infuriated the American colonists who felt that they were unfair and should not be held responsible for them. In what would seem like a considerate gesture, Parliament retracted the taxes. In return however, they came up with a plan to give the East India Company a monopoly on importing tea to America. In addition to this, Parliament also reduced the amount of tax that the colonists would pay on the tea. However, if the colonists paid taxes on the tea to Parliament, they would be acknowledging that Parliament had a right to tax them. What should be done in a situation like this? In December of 1773 the people of Boston decided that they had enough and weren't going to sit back and let Parliament run them.
Three ships came into the Boston harbor carrying tea for distribution. This infuriated the people of Boston. George Hewes was living in Boston at this time and was involved in the Boston Tea Party. A documentation of his experience can be found on at http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/teaparty.htm. George describes the events that took place that night. He "...dressed myself in the costume of an Indian, equipped with a small hatchet, which I and my associates denominated the tomahawk, with which, and a club, after having painted my face and hands with coal dust in the shop of a blacksmith, I repaired to Griffin's wharf, where the ships lay that contained the tea. When I first appeared in the street after being thus disguised, I fell in with many who were dressed, equipped and painted as I was, and who fell in with me and marched in order to the place of our destination". In the picture shown above you can seen men dressed as Indians dumping the tea into the Boston harbor. George goes on to say that they were told to "...board all the ships at the same time, which we promptly obeyed. The commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as we were on board the ship appointed me boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or rigging. 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".
After clearing the ships of tea, the men went back to their homes. Insistent that no one should have the tea that was brought into the harbor that December, in his recollection of events that night, George Hewes describes how the next morning a small number of boats went through the harbor, breaking apart any tea that had surfaced.
In today's society, we would not be able to do something like this. Participants would be arrested and be held responsible for paying for the tea that was destroyed and for the funds that it would have cost to stop a demonstration like this. However at the time the people of Boston were doing this, the British army watched from the side. The people of Boston did pay in the end with additional taxes and rules placed on them by the British government. This rebellion would eventually lead to the start of the American Revolution.
Sources
"The Boston Tea Party, 1773," EyeWitness to History, http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ (2002)
"Boston Tea Party, Eyewitness Account by a Participant", The History Place, http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/teaparty.htm
