What the Boston tea party was really all about

What the Boston tea party was really all about

By 1773, Britain's tax on tea had American colonists steaming. Colonists fought this latest British tax by refusing to buy tea. Some people even smashed shop windows where tea was sold. Angry mobs dragged tea sellers through the streets.

No tax on tea!

Britain was taxing the colonists to pay for wars fought in the American colonies. The British government said that the colonists should help pay for wars that defended them. The colonists objected. They had no representatives in the British Parliament where tax questions were decided.

People hoped their actions would push Britain to end the tax. Unhappy colonists had already stopped taxes they felt were unfair, such as the tax on sugar in 1764. Now one woman wrote, “rather than freedom, we'll part with our tea!”

In November 1773, three British ships sailed into the harbour of Boston, Massachusetts. The ships carried 342 chests of tea. Colonial leaders such as Samuel Adams did not want the tea unloaded. Adams wanted the ships returned to Britain with the tea. That would send a message to Britain’s King George III.

The royal governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, had other ideas. He would keep the ships in Boston Harbour until the colonists paid the tea tax.

What was the Boston tea party?

On December 16, 1773, hundreds of people gathered for a meeting. What should they do about the tea? Cries of “Boston Harbour a teapot tonight!” rang through the town.

That night a huge crowd jammed together at the harbour. A group of young men climbed onto the tea ships. Some of the men disguised themselves as Native American warriors. As the crowd watched, the young men ripped open the wooden chests. They dumped the tea into the chilly water. Chopped wood and expensive tea floated in the harbour. Afterward, some people would not even eat fish caught in the harbour because the fish had drunk the tea.