www.history.com Open in urlscan Pro
2a04:4e42::680  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

GET https://www.history.com/search

<form class="search__form" aria-hidden="true" method="GET" accept-charset="UTF-8" action="https://www.history.com/search" role="search" id="header-search-form"><input type="text" id="q" name="q" required="" aria-label="Search" enterkeyhint="search"
    tabindex="-1"><button class="search__submit icon-button" aria-label="Submit search" tabindex="-1" type="submit"><svg viewBox="0 0 25 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" width="20" height="20">
      <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.9 10.45a6.45 6.45 0 10-12.9 0 6.45 6.45 0 0012.9 0zm3 0a9.45 9.45 0 10-18.9 0 9.45 9.45 0 0018.9 0z" fill="currentColor"></path>
      <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M15.69 16.214a1.5 1.5 0 012.12 0l5.25 5.25a1.5 1.5 0 01-2.12 2.122l-5.25-5.25a1.5 1.5 0 010-2.122z" fill="currentColor"></path>
    </svg></button><button class="search__close icon-button" id="search-menu-action" aria-label="Close search" aria-controls="header-search-form" tabindex="-1" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" type="button"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" width="20" height="20">
      <path d="M19 6.41L17.59 5 12 10.59 6.41 5 5 6.41 10.59 12 5 17.59 6.41 19 12 13.41 17.59 19 19 17.59 13.41 12 19 6.41z" fill="currentColor"></path>
    </svg></button></form>

Text Content

Skip to content

ShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStories
 * History Classics
 * Live TV
 * Your Profile


Your Profile
History
 * Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
 * Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
 * Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
 * Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
 * Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)

Email Updates
 * Live TV
 * History Classics
 * Shows
 * This Day In History
 * Schedule
 * Topics
 * Stories
 * Videos
 * History Podcasts
 * History Vault

 1. Home
 2. Topics
 3. American Revolution
 4. Boston Tea Party


BOSTON TEA PARTY

By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 25, 2024 | Original: October 27, 2009

copy page linkPrint Page
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 1.  Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen?
 2.  Boston Massacre Enrages Colonists
 3.  Tea Act Imposed
 4.  Sons of Liberty
 5.  Facts: What Happened at the Boston Tea Party
 6.  Boston Tea Party Aftermath
 7.  Who Organized the Boston Tea Party?  
 8.  Coercive Acts
 9.  Second Boston Tea Party
 10. First Continental Congress Is Convened
 11. Sources

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773,
at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and
angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342
chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The
event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It
showed Great Britain that Americans would not tolerate taxation and tyranny
sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for
independence.

Boston Tea Party


WHY DID THE BOSTON TEA PARTY HAPPEN?

In the 1760s, Britain was deep in debt, so British Parliament imposed a series
of taxes on American colonists to help pay those debts.

The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed colonists on virtually every piece of printed paper
they used, from playing cards and business licenses to newspapers and legal
documents. The Townshend Acts of 1767 went a step further, taxing essentials
such as paint, paper, glass, lead and tea.

The British government felt the taxes were fair since much of its debt was
earned fighting wars on the colonists’ behalf. The colonists, however,
disagreed. They were furious at being taxed without having any representation in
Parliament, and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them to gain
revenue.

Stamp Act


BOSTON MASSACRE ENRAGES COLONISTS

On March 5, 1770, a street brawl happened in Boston between American colonists
and British soldiers.

Later known as the Boston Massacre, the fight began after an unruly group of
colonists—frustrated with the presence of British soldiers in their
streets—flung snowballs, ice and oyster shells at a British sentinel guarding
the Boston Customs House.

Reinforcements arrived and opened fire on the mob, killing five colonists and
wounding six. The Boston Massacre and its fallout further incited the colonists’
rage towards Britain.

Boston Massacre


TEA ACT IMPOSED

Britain eventually repealed the taxes it had imposed on the colonists except the
tea tax. It wasn’t about to give up tax revenue on the nearly 1.2 million pounds
of tea the colonists drank each year.

In protest, the colonists boycotted tea sold by British East India Company and
smuggled in Dutch tea, leaving British East India Company with millions of
pounds of surplus tea and facing bankruptcy.

In May 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act which allowed British East
India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and much cheaper than other
tea companies—but still tax the tea when it reached colonial ports.

Tea smuggling in the colonies increased, although the cost of the smuggled tea
soon surpassed that of tea from British East India Company with the added tea
tax.

Still, with the help of prominent tea smugglers such as John Hancock and Samuel
Adams —who protested taxation without representation but also wanted to protect
their tea smuggling operations—colonists continued to rail against the tea tax
and Britain’s control over their interests.

Tea Act


SONS OF LIBERTY

The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonial merchants and tradesmen founded to
protest the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation. The group of revolutionists
included prominent patriots such as Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry and Paul
Revere, as well as Adams and Hancock.

Led by Adams, the Sons of Liberty held meetings rallying against British
Parliament and protested the Griffin’s Wharf arrival of Dartmouth, a British
East India Company ship carrying tea. By December 16, 1773, Dartmouth had been
joined by her sister ships, Beaver and Eleanor; all three ships loaded with tea
from China.

That morning, as thousands of colonists convened at the wharf and its
surrounding streets, a meeting was held at the Old South Meeting House where a
large group of colonists voted to refuse to pay taxes on the tea or allow the
tea to be unloaded, stored, sold or used. (Ironically, the ships were built in
America and owned by Americans.)

Governor Thomas Hutchison refused to allow the ships to return to Britain and
ordered the tea tariff be paid and the tea unloaded. The colonists refused, and
Hutchison never offered a satisfactory compromise.


FACTS: WHAT HAPPENED AT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

That night, a large group of men—many reportedly members of the Sons of Liberty—
disguised themselves in Native American garb, boarded the docked ships and threw
342 chests of tea into the water.

Said participant George Hewes, “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.”

Hewes also noted that “We were surrounded by British armed ships, but no attempt
was made to resist us.”

> Did you know? It took nearly three hours for more than 100 colonists to empty
> the tea into Boston Harbor. The chests held more than 90,000 lbs. (45 tons) of
> tea, which would cost nearly $1,000,000 dollars today.


10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

Explore 10 things you may not know about the iconic political protest.

Read more


7 EVENTS THAT ENRAGED COLONISTS AND LED TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Colonists didn’t just take up arms against the British out of the blue. A series
of events escalated tensions that culminated in America’s war for independence.

Read more


BOSTON TEA PARTY AFTERMATH

While some important colonist leaders such as John Adams were thrilled to learn
Boston Harbor was covered in tea leaves, others were not.

In June of 1774, George Washington wrote: “the cause of Boston…ever will be
considered as the cause of America.” But his personal views of the event were
far different. He voiced strong disapproval of “their conduct in destroying the
Tea” and claimed Bostonians “were mad.” Washington, like many other elites, held
private property to be sacrosanct. 

Benjamin Franklin insisted the British East India Company be reimbursed for the
lost tea and even offered to pay for it himself.

No one was hurt, and aside from the destruction of the tea and a padlock, no
property was damaged or looted during the Boston Tea Party. The participants
reportedly swept the ships’ decks clean before they left.


WHO ORGANIZED THE BOSTON TEA PARTY?  

Though led by Samuel Adams and his Sons of Liberty and organized by John
Hancock, the names of many of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain
unknown. Thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party
culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and imprisoned.

Even after American independence, participants refused to reveal their
identities, fearing they could still face civil and criminal charges as well as
condemnation from elites for the destruction of private property. Most
participants in the Boston Tea Party were under the age of 40 and 16 of them
were teenagers. 


COERCIVE ACTS

But despite the lack of violence, the Boston Tea Party didn’t go unanswered by
King George III and British Parliament.

In retribution, they passed the Coercive Acts (later known as the Intolerable
Acts) which:

 * Closed Boston Harbor until the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party was paid for
 * Ended the Massachusetts Constitution and ended free elections of town
   officials
 * Moved judicial authority to Britain and British judges, basically creating
   martial law in Massachusetts
 * Required colonists to quarter British troops on demand
 * Extended freedom of worship to French-Canadian Catholics under British rule,
   which angered the mostly Protestant colonists

Britain hoped the Coercive Acts would squelch rebellion in New England and keep
the remaining colonies from uniting, but the opposite happened: All the colonies
viewed the punitive laws as further evidence of Britain’s tyranny and rallied to
Massachusetts’ aid, sending supplies and plotting further resistance.


WHO WERE THE SONS OF LIBERTY?

Most famous for their role in the Boston Tea Party, the Sons of Liberty used
grassroots activism to push back against British rule.

Read more


7 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

For starters, the colonists weren’t protesting higher taxes on tea.

Read more


HOW THE COERCIVE ACTS HELPED SPARK THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

As colonists grew increasingly defiant, the British government responded with
punishing measures that only angered them more.

Read more


SECOND BOSTON TEA PARTY

A second Boston Tea Party took place in March 1774, when around 60 Bostonians
boarded the ship Fortune and dumped nearly 30 chests of tea into the harbor.

The event didn’t earn nearly as much notoriety as the first Boston Tea Party,
but it did encourage other tea-dumping demonstrations in Maryland, New York and
South Carolina.


FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IS CONVENED

Many colonists felt Britain’s Coercive Acts went too far. On September 5, 1774,
elected delegates from all 13 American colonies except Georgia met in
Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress to figure
out how to resist British oppression.

The delegates were divided on how to move forward but the Boston Tea Party had
united them in their fervor to gain independence. By the time they adjourned in
October 1774, they’d written The Declaration and Resolves which:

 * Censured Britain for passing the Coercive Acts and called for their repeal
 * Established a boycott of British goods
 * Declared the colonies had the right to govern independently
 * Rallied colonists to form and train a colonial militia

Britain didn’t capitulate and within months, the “shot heard round the world,”
rang out in Concord, Massachusetts, sparking the start of the American
Revolutionary War.


SOURCES

A Tea Party Timeline: 1773-1775. Old South Meeting House.
The Boston Tea Party. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The Boston Tea Party. Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Boston Tea Party, 1773. EyewitnesstoHistory.com.
The Intolerable Acts. U.S.History.org.


HISTORY VAULT: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Stream American Revolution documentaries and your favorite HISTORY series,
commercial-free.

WATCH NOW

By: History.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate
and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the
HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been
written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy
Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




CITATION INFORMATION

Article TitleBoston Tea Party
AuthorHistory.com Editors
Website NameHISTORY
URLhttps://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party
Date AccessedSeptember 17, 2024
PublisherA&E Television Networks
Last UpdatedJune 25, 2024
Original Published DateOctober 27, 2009


FACT CHECK

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look
right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content
regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Print Page


SIGN UP FOR INSIDE HISTORY

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a
week.


Sign Up


By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E
Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a
resident of the United States.

More details: Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us


MORE ON THIS TOPIC | AMERICAN REVOLUTION


HOW THE COERCIVE ACTS HELPED SPARK THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

As colonists grew increasingly defiant, the British government responded with
punishing measures that only angered them more.

Read more


7 EVENTS THAT ENRAGED COLONISTS AND LED TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Colonists didn’t just take up arms against the British out of the blue. A series
of events escalated tensions that culminated in America’s war for independence.

Read more


WHO WERE THE SONS OF LIBERTY?

Most famous for their role in the Boston Tea Party, the Sons of Liberty used
grassroots activism to push back against British rule.

Read more


7 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

For starters, the colonists weren’t protesting higher taxes on tea.

Read more


7 CONTENTIOUS TRADE WARS IN US HISTORY

From the Boston Tea Party to the banana wars of the 1990s, U.S. trade battles
have yielded mixed results for Americans.

Read more


10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

Explore 10 things you may not know about the iconic political protest.

Read more
See MoreRead more about American Revolution

A+E NetworksOur Family of Brands
 * History Education
 * History Vault
 * Mobile/Apps
 * News
 * Share Your Opinion

Follow History
 * d
 * 
 * p
 * m
 * +

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

 * Biography
 * Crime and Investigation

 * History en Espanol
 * LRW

 * Military History

 * Ad Choices
 * Advertise With Us
 * Accessibility Support
 * Copyright Policy

 * Corporate Information
 * Employment Opportunities
 * FAQ/Contact Us
 * Privacy Notice

 * Cookie Notice
 * Terms Of Use
 * TV Parental Guidelines

 * Contact Us
 * Copyright Policy
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms of Use
 * Ad Choices
 * Accessibility Support



© 2024, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.