The Boston Tea Party

There is a lot of history behind America gaining independence. A so-called tea party in Boston, Massachusetts was a major turning point.

The Stamp Act

After the French and Indian war the King of Great Britain needed money to pay off debts relating to the war and to help pay for British Troops stationed in the colonies. Britain imposed taxes on the American colonies to help pay for these debts, the most well-known tax is known as the Stamp Act.

The British Parliament passed the law called the Stamp Act in 1765. The act said that the colonists had to use a stamp on newspapers and other legal documents. They had to buy the stamp from the British government.

The colonists protested the tax and even refused to buy them. The British insisted they could tax the people but the colonies disagreed--they didn't have any representatives in the British Government to speak for them. They said,

"No taxation without representation!"

They believed that they should be governed by people in their own colony.

The Stamp Act actually helped bring the colonists together. Representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies held a meeting to write up some of their complaints against Britain. They asked the government to repeal (or take back) the law. The people were so upset that merchants even agreed not to import goods from Britain. That made the manufacturers in Britain very unhappy, they didn't have anyone to sell to in the colonies and they lost a lot of business and didn't make as much money.

Parliament in Britain did repeal the act in 1766 but that didn't stop the British government from imposing other taxes on the people that the colonists felt to be unfair.

Samuel Adams was one of Boston's most prominent revolutionary leaders. His cousin is John Adams who would be the 2nd President of the United States .

Samuel was well known for his ability to encourage resentment against King George and the British government. His role in the American War of Independence can not be overstated--he played a pivotal role in speaking out against the King, against taxation and of exciting the people to their rights for freedom and independence. He was a founder in the Sons of Liberty group.

The background:

For many years the colonists had complained to Britain that they were not being treated fairly. The biggest complaint was the tax that was charged for certain items shipped to America. They complained so strongly that many of the taxes were rescinded or taken away.

We talked about the Stamp Act, but Another was a tax on tea.

There was only one company that was allowed to ship tea to the colonies and sell it there--so the colonists had no say in how much they would need to pay if they wanted tea. That was just the way it was. They felt this was unfair. Colonists in New York City and Philadelphia refused to let those ships into their port to unload their cargo. In Massachussetts however, the governor was loyal to the British. Loyal means he giving constant support or alligiance to someone or something. Because he was loyal to the King, he allowed the ships to enter Boston Harbor and unload their cargo. He also made the merchants pay the tax on the tea.

The Real "Tea Party"

It was December 1773 when a ship was harbored in Boston. The Sons of Liberty decided this was an injustice and something must be done about it! About 60 colonists dressed as American Indians (faces painted, dressed in native clothing and wearing feathers) to disguise themselves. They dumped more than 300 chests of tea into the Boston harbor!

What a waste of tea! And the merchants who shipped it to the Americas lost a lot of money. Everyone was upset. The British government imposed several new laws that were meant to punish the colonists. They even closed Boston's harbor until the colonists paid for the tea that was thrown into the sea.

Although the bulk of the new laws were imposed on Massachusetts, this encouraged the other colonies to join with Massachusetts and work together against the King. They wanted to be treated fairly and if the King would do this to Massachussetts colony, he would do it to Georgia or Pennsylvania or New York as well. They knew that something needed to change.

The colonies sent representatives from all 13 colonies to meet in protest of these laws. They met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 5, 1774 and that first meeting became known as the First Continental Congress. This congress, followed by another congress would prove to change the history of the world.

This changed everything.

So while this wasn't a real tea party, this action by the Sons of Liberty proved to be a major turning point in the actions of the British government and the response by the colonists.

ACTIVITIES AND IDEAS

• Have a tea party! We are going to have some herbal tea with sugar cubes (thats the fun part!) Help the kids understand that this was (and still is) a major part of the English culture and it was brought to the American colonies. The Boston Tea Party was actually devastating to part of their heritage and culture. Not to mention a huge waste of money and product.

• Use your American Indian tomahawks and headdresses to board the ship and cast out the tea!

• YouTube video produced by a non-profiut called American Cornerstone Foundation and was started by Ben Carson. These videos are pretty good and definitely bring in God. I haven't watched all of them. https://youtu.be/rpFITASHaYo?si=AdCqNEkHzK5JzULH