A good cup of tea has always been a British favorite. At one time it was extremely popular among the royal colonies in America. Perhaps that is why it became a weapon, a symbol of power, control and rebellion culminating on December 16, 1773 at a harbor in Boston.

After battling through the French Indian wars, the British government found itself a little strapped for cash. As always, it was the colonies who were expected to reimburse the crown for its expensive victory. After several acts of parliament that included new taxes on such things as stamps, glass and paper, the British simply went too far and tried to place a tax on the beloved beverage of the time, tea.

The colonists were unhappy with all the new taxes as they meant paying the debts of another country which not actually representing the people of the American colonies. The phrase ‘no taxation without representation’ stems from this time. By making the imported tea cheaper than it had ever been and simultaneously placing an import tax on the cargo, the British government, namely King George III, tried to bribe the colonists into accepting British rule. Paying the tax would admit the crown had authority.

Dissent had been brewing for some time in the colonies and when the East India Company tried to bring the tea onto American soil, they were forced to stay in dock and not unload their cargo. If their cargo was unloaded, it was confiscated by port officials who sold it on the black market.

A sort of stalemate ensued, until a cool night in December when approximately 116 Bostonians, frustrated by failed meetings and apathetic customs officers, descended on three ships docked at Boston harbor. Dressed in Native American costume and donned with war paint, the men illegally boarded the ships and dumped the tea chests into the harbor.

The ring leaders of this historic act of rebellion had been planning the sedition since the end of November when news of the ships arrival was proclaimed. The ships sat in harbor at Griffin’s Wharf for two weeks where they were guarded by a volunteer force of sentries. Their job was enforcing the resolutions made at meetings of the Boston Sons of Liberty group which stated that the tea would not touch land.

The morning after the brazen attack, Samuel Adams sent a letter proclaiming what had occurred to the Sons of Liberty groups in New York and Philadelphia. The letters were carried by Paul Revere. The tea dumping ceremony was applauded throughout the colonies by all of those who had grown sick of British rule.

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In March of 1774, the British crown and the British Parliament responded to the blatant destruction of private property and the American rebellion by closing the port at Boston. Parliament viewed the people of Boston as the instigators of dissent across the country and vowed to destroy them once and for all. The final outcome of the Boston Tea Party was of course the American Revolution or War of Independence which abolished British rule for all time and saw the beginnings of a new form of government: American democracy. And not for all the tea in China, or India for that matter, would the descendents of those colonists have it any other way.

Tags: American, American History, American Revolution, American War of Independence, Boston, Boston TEa Party, British, Bunker Hill Sword, Charleville Rifle with Bayonet, Colonial Store, Don't Tread On Me Flag, East India Company, Intolerable Acts, Leather Tricorn Pirate Colonial Hat, Paul Revere, Revolutionary War Flag, Samuel Adams, Stamp Act, U.S. History, War of Independence