How the Boston Tea Party Worked

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The Boston Tea Party (print), 1846. See more pictures of the American Revolution.

The United States is a country steeped in myths, stories, and powerful images, especially from the American Revolution. Few stories have endured like the Boston Tea Party. Some of the basic facts about the Boston Tea Party are fairly well known. It took place, of course, in Boston, on the evening of December 16, 1773, at a place called Griffin's Wharf. Over the course of three hours, at least 116 people helped to heave 90,000 lbs. of tea into the harbor [source: The Boston Tea Party]. At the time, the tea was worth 10,000 British pounds, or about $1,000,000 today [source: The Boston Tea Party]. That 90,000 lbs. of tea represented the equivalent of 18.5 million cups of tea and turned the water in the harbor brown for several days [sources: The Old South Meeting House and The American Revolution].

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We know who many of the 116 or so protesters were but many also remain unknown. And only one man, a fellow various called Francis Akeley or Francis Eckley, was sent to jail. So what caused this famous act of protest? Were people really dressed as American Indians, and why? What does the Boston Tea Party have to do with "taxation without representation?"

In this article, we'll take a look at those questions and more as we consider this important event in American history. We'll also discuss what exactly caused the residents of Boston to be so upset about a few shipments of tea and why those patriots' acts may have contributed to the start of the American Revolution.

Taxation Without Representation

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A list in the Boston Gazette, dated January 1, 1770, of the merchants who 'audaciously continue' to import British goods into Boston, despite the boycott upheld by many patriotic colonials as a protest against British taxation.

Before we look at the Boston Tea Party itself and the events immediately preceding it, it's important to examine how such great tensions between the American colonists and the British government developed. At its core, the Boston Tea Party was a conflict over taxation. You may have heard the phrase "taxation without representation," which developed in this era. Unlike their British brethren, the people living in the 13 colonies did not have direct representatives in the British parliament. Because of that, the colonists had no way to vote for how they would be taxed or who would represent them. And because of this lack of representation, the British government was free to tax the colonists in any way -- and for any amount -- that it saw fit. With no way to fight taxation and no way to claim their rights, many colonists feared that their property could be taken away through debilitating taxes.

Since it had free reign to tax colonists, the years leading up the Revolution saw the British government introduce a number of taxation laws. However, because of protests, the government modified or repealed many of these laws soon afterwards. These laws and subsequent protests contributed to growing tensions throughout the colonies, particularly in Boston, where the British government stationed soldiers in October 1768.

Where is Griffin's Wharf?

If you happen to be in Boston and want to see where history occurred, you may have a hard time finding Griffin's Wharf. That's because it no longer exists. Boston's harbor area looks much different today than it did in the 1770s. Some areas around Boston's docks and coast were filled in during the 19th century. But you can still see the Old South Meeting House, site of many anti-British gatherings; it's located at 33 Arch Street, just a few blocks away from where Griffin's Wharf used to be.

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A view of a plaque in honor of the Boston Tea Party.

It's easy to understand why the colonists were upset about taxation without representation. But why was tea a focal point of so many protests? First, tea was a very popular drink in Britain and in the colonies. Colonists drank a lot of tea -- at least 1.2 million pounds (544,311 kilograms) a year [source: The Old South Meeting House]. Besides being popular, tea represented a direct connection to the British government, both culturally and financially. The British East India Company imported the tea, known as Bohea or black tea, although it was actually grown in China. By law, the British East India Company was the only company allowed to import tea into the colonies.

Since the British government had such a close hold on the importation of tea and the ability to tax at will, it instituted high taxes on the product to pay for the costly French and Indian Wars. These taxes frequently resulted in the smuggling of cheaper, non-British tea and boycotts of British tea. The British government responded by repealing tea taxes through the 1767 Indemnity Act. That act was short-lived; later that year, the Townshend Acts restored the taxes on tea, in addition to taxing many other commonly imported goods. Subsequent protests and boycotts of British goods caused the government to repeal the Townshend Acts in 1770.

During this time, other taxation schemes were stoking the fires of rebellion. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, caused riots and protests throughout the colonies. The reaction was so severe that by the time the act went into effect, all stamp commissioners had resigned their positions or left the colonies [source: PBS].

In 1773, the same year as the Boston Tea Party, the British government passed the Tea Act, which authorized the British East India Company to ship tea directly to colonies while the government levied a tax of three pence on each shipment. While the Tea Act actually lowered the price of tea for colonists, many colonists were still angry at being taxed at all. Colonists responded by pressuring local merchants to refuse the shipments, arguing that, despite the low prices on tea, the act was a backdoor method for the royal government to levy taxes [source: The Old South Meeting House]. Merchants resisted the pressure and continued to receive the tea.

The Dartmouth Sails In

On November 27, 1773, a provocative notice appeared across the city of Boston. The notice announced that "detested tea" from the East India Company was sitting in the harbor on a ship called the Dartmouth, having arrived the previous day [source: Boston Tea Party]. The notice called on residents to protest the tea and called for a meeting in Faneuil Hall. By the time of the meeting, Faneuil Hall proved too small a venue, so the crowd moved to the Old South Meeting House, the biggest building in Boston at the time [source: The Old South Meeting House].

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John Lamb (1735-1800) Speaking at the Sons of Liberty Meeting at New York City Hall Concerning the Landing of British Tea in New York, December 17th 1773.

The meeting continued at the Old South Meeting House. The citizens decided that they would not allow the ship to unload its cargo and that they would not pay any duties, or taxes, on it. Instead, they demanded that the ship return the tea to England. They reached similar decisions about two other ships that would soon arrive, also carrying loads of tea. The protesters were so adamant about not letting the ships unload the tea that they assigned 25 civilians to guard the docks and sent out messages to neighboring towns. The townspeople -- or patriots as anti-British rebels eventually called themselves -- opposed allowing the tea to be unloaded because if that happened, they would still owe a duty even if the tea wasn't sold.

Alternatives to Tea
Throughout the colonies, people, particularly women, were encouraged to boycott tea, and American colonists found creative ways to replace British tea. Some smuggled in tea from Dutch merchants. New tea drinks were created: Indian tea, made from roots; Balsamic Hyperion, made from raspberry plant leaves; and Labrador tea, made from another local plant.

The Royal British governor, Thomas Hutchinson, responded by attempting to keep the ships in the harbor so that the tea could eventually be unloaded. Governor Hutchinson instructed his military commanders to prepare to use force to stop the ships from leaving without unloading the tea. He also requested that members of the Sons of Liberty, a group behind the protest, should be arrested and charged.

On November 30, 1773, several thousand colonists met once again at the Old South Meeting House to discuss the developing crisis. One man offered a compromise from the local merchants. The merchants said that they would receive the tea but not sell it, while they waited to hear more from the British government. The assembled colonists refused. Any offloading of the tea meant paying the tax -- the colonists' main grievance. At the meeting's end, the colonists resolved that "tea should never be landed in this province" [source: The Old South Meeting House].

Meanwhile, two other ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver, were sailing towards Boston loaded with tea. The Eleanor arrived on December 2, the Beaver followed five days later. The arrival of both ships raised the tensions in Boston. Between November 30 and the final, decisive meeting on December 14, many more meetings took place at the Old South Meeting House as the protesters debated a plan of action.

The Final Meeting and the Tea Party

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Samuel Adams (1722-1803) attended the meeting from which the plans for the Boston Tea Party were born.

By December 14, 1773, support for the boycott of British tea had reached neighboring towns, who had communicated messages of support. Signs were posted all over the city of Boston announcing another meeting in the Old South Meeting House. At least 5,000 people showed up, some of them waiting outside in the street [source: Boston Tea Party]. (To get a sense of how impressive a gathering that was, consider that the population of Boston at the time was only about 15,000 [source: The Old South Meeting House].) Some now legendary figures from early American history attended the meeting, including Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock.

The attendees told Francis Rotch, owner of the Dartmouth, to ask Governor Hutchinson for permission to sail out of Boston and back to England. The protesters decided to take a break and meet again at 3 p.m., allowing Rotch time to meet with Governor Hutchinson. Rotch eventually returned during the afternoon meeting and reported to the assembled crowd that Governor Hutchinson would not let the ships leave without unloading the tea.

At that moment, the crowd could take no more. Someone dressed like an American Indian let out a war cry. Others echoed the cry while some in attendance called for everyone to rush to Griffin's Wharf and make Boston Harbor into "a teapot" [source: Boston Tea Party]. A mob rushed to Griffin's Wharf, divided into three groups -- one for each of the ships -- and began opening crates and dumping tea into the sea.

While a large mob attended the Boston Tea Party, little violence occurred. The ships' crews generally stood by impassively and the surrounding British warships did not fire their weapons. Some local residents who tried to make off with tea found themselves shoved and kicked by protesters. One of the revelers reported that after the destruction of the tea "the stillest night ensued that Boston had enjoyed for many months" [source: The American Revolution]. Still, the lack of violence does not mean that the patriots weren't determined; the next day some of them returned to Griffin's Wharf and, seeing some tea still floating on top of the water, they approached it in small boats and destroyed what remained by hitting it with their oars.

Did Protesters Use Indian Disguises?
One of the most enduring images from the Boston Tea Party is of protesters dressed as American Indians, throwing crates of tea into the ocean. In fact, only some of mob wore disguises and many of them were just that -- disguises that didn't even represent Indian dress. Some people simply smeared soot on their faces or used what was available to hide their appearance. But there are some scholars who argue that the image of the Mohawk Indian was symbolic, representing oppressed peoples, and had been used in other anti-taxation, tea-destroying protests [source: Boston Tea Party]. The Sons of Liberty had previously used names of American Indian tribes. However, accounts from the time, such as in "The Massachusetts Gazette," indicate that the men were focused on concealing who they were [source: The Old South Meeting House]. And what appeared to be Indian weapons, such as tomahawks, had a practical use: opening the cargo containers so that the tea could be dumped into the harbor.

Consequences of the Boston Tea Party

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The first Continental Congress is held in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, to define American rights and organize a plan of resistance to the Coercive Acts imposed by the British Parliament as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea Party was, until that time, one of the most dramatic protests against British colonial rule. Tensions were already high because of many tax laws passed and repealed by the British government and the protests against them. Three years earlier, on March 5, 1770, British soldiers shot and killed five colonists in what became known as the Boston Massacre. The massacre was still a source of outrage for the colonists, and men such as Samuel Adams delivered speeches protesting it in the Old South Meeting House.

Because of slow transport times, England didn't receive news of the Boston Tea Party until January 1774. The British government made their official announcement two months later and embarked on an effort to crack down on the unruly colonists. On April 1, 1774, the authorities closed the port of Boston. Four new regiments of British soldiers arrived in Boston. General Thomas Gage replaced Thomas Hutchinson as governor, and Benjamin Franklin, who at the time represented Massachusetts, was criticized in Parliament for spreading material that showed outgoing governor Hutchinson in a poor light.

The Intolerable Acts, passed in 1774 and also known as the Coercive Acts, represented another attempt by the British government to make an example of Massachusetts. The Intolerable Acts were actually composed of several laws that gave British authorities more control over the colonists and limited the colonists' ability to obtain more power. The Quebec Act set aside a large chunk of land west of the colonies and handed it to the province of Quebec. The Massachusetts Government Act revoked the colony's charter and made it a crown colony with fewer rights (such as outlawing impromptu gatherings). This same act also installed General Gage as the military governor. The Boston Port Bill closed the Boston Harbor. The Administration of Justice Act allowed British officials charged with serious crimes to have their trials take place in Britain or a different colony. Finally, Parliament passed a revision of the Quartering Act, which authorized British soldiers to stay in colonists' homes.

Was the BTP eco-terrorism?
Some contemporary commentators have equated the Boston Tea Party with eco-terrorism, while others refute the idea. The term eco-terrorism is defined differently at times, but in our How Eco-terrorism Works article, we used the FBI definition of eco-terrorism as "the use of violence against victims or property by an environmentally-oriented group for environmentally-political reasons." By that standard, the BTP was likely not an act of eco-terrorism, and it certainly wasn't in the environment's best interests.

The Boston Tea Party was not the official beginning of the American Revolution, but it was an early, important defining event. The rebellion against colonial rule and subsequent crackdown by the British government galvanized the colonies in their opposition to the Crown, as evident by protests against tea in places outside Massachusetts. Other tea shipments intended for the colonies were forced to return to Britain. In Charleston, British-imported tea made it off the boats but not out of the warehouses where it was stored.

Ten months after the Boston Tea Party, the First Continental Congress met in September 1774. The Declaration of Independence came less than two years after that. The colonies were on their way to outright rebellion and eventual independence, and the Boston Tea Party remains a seminal moment in the development of the nation.

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