Defiance Of The Patriots: The Boston Tea Party

American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked A Revolution written by Harlow Giles Unger offers an in-depth analysis of the Boston Tea Party. Unger organizes the events in chronological order starting 30 years before the Boston Tea Party occurred. In the end he touches upon the aftermath of the journey towards self-government. The book presents many engaging details and provides the reader with more of a storytelling feel. He describes the colonists hard times and anger towards being taxed by British Parliament. Unger adds insights and conclusions about various topics and the people surrounding the rebellion, which was one of his goals in his writing. He wanted to tell of the untold Tea Party 's impact on American history politically, socially, and economically. The book was intended for the general public, because he wrote “ironically, few, if any Americans today… know the true and entire story of the Tea Party and the Patriots who staged it” (4).

You might think that the Boston Tea Party was just some irregular people dumping tea in the sea. But, actually it was a protest about the awful taxes that were put on the British tea. So, a group of patriots called the Sons of Liberty decided to dump the tea into the Boston Harbor. The Sons of Liberty and colonists wanted to prove a point that the taxes were atrocious and the British’s taxes on the tea were stealing their business. They indeed dumped tea into the sea, but the whole point was to protest the British and their taxes. The Sons of Liberty were the people who did the tea dumping process and the tea

In 1773 parliament passed the tea act in which the British pay less for tax to ship places. This made the prices of tea lower from Britain. Since Boston's tea would be more expensive nobody would buy it from them. The tea act was just another problem adding up between the colonists and britain. This made the colonists want to be independent from Britain. The colonists decided to rebel and dumb three hundred and forty two chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The act was given the name the Boston Tea Party. Most of the British thought of the Boston Tea Party as an act of terrorism. Really the Boston Tea Party was just another step to independence for the colonists.

Because of this, it is easy to see why wealthy and prominent figures such as Thomas Hutchinson – who would later become governor – were so hated by the lower classes. They were the people who would vote in favor of bills that make smuggling goods more costly and difficult. In addition to the distaste for the affluent, Carp also brings attention to the effectiveness of Boston “crowding”. Society in Boston, being tight-quartered and boisterous, gave way to a close town of friends. The Bostonian’s would often band together for such rowdy times as Pope’s Day. This annual celebration of destruction and effigies were often duplicated when the colonist met a rise in price or an unfriendly customs officer. One can only imagine the reaction when the Stamp Act was passed. Merchants, artisans, and the lower class all collaborated to violently oppose this act. Carp views this as the foreshadowing of the tea party and many of the Bostonian’s first brush with opposing Parliament.

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1773. The citizens of the colonies felt cheated due to the lack of representation in Parliament which caused unfair taxes colonists could not do anything about. In their opinion, they were British citizens as well and deserved the same rights given to those back in the mother country and to not have “virtual representation” where members of Parliament were chosen to speak for those across the sea instead of an election to decide who holds their seat in office. Therefore, when a shipment of highly overpriced tea, due to taxes, docked at the harbor, the Sons of Liberty paraded in dressed as American Indians and in a matter of three hours

The Boston Tea Party has created many myths over the years, the number one being that this act was applauded and celebrated by all the patriots (Raphael). “The morning after the event John Adams wrote to his friend James Warren, ‘The Dye is cast’” (Raphael). Symbolizing that there is no turning back at this point, the future is most probably certain for some sort of conflict between both opposing countries. The Boston Tea Party was not peaceful, but rather an act of vandalism against the British crown. There are parallels and similarities to modern day conflicts and riots as seen in Ferguson, Missouri following the police shooting Michael Brown; This sparked days of civil unrest and rioting in the area and around other cities in America. Another example is ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and the standoff between millennials and the big banks of Manhattan; there the protests brought the city to a

Though many laws were passed taxing the colonists, America had no say in the British Parliament. Patrick Henry’s speech embodies this argument when he says “We have no representatives in the British Parliament…… The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it” (Doc. 1). This act of defiance caught the colonists’ attention and made them feel that perhaps they could change the laws after all. Another act of defiance against the British was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was a riot against the British that involved colonists dumping tons of tea from British ships into the sea. Britain then passed a law that said that the Boston Harbor would be closed until the colonists paid for the tea. This angered the colonists even more, and eventually led to the Revolution. As you can see, many rebellious deeds inspired the colonists and helped them confront the British.

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea that was imported to New England. The colonist began to boycott these goods which angered English authorities. They placed military officials so that they could force the colonists to pay the much needed taxes. Tensions between British soldiers and colonists escalated. This lead to the Boston Massacre; it was propagandized and impassioned many settlers to rebel. In response for the unfair taxes on tea, the colonists dumped the imported tea into the harbor. People became much more ardent to their side after the incident. You were either for the revolution; a patriot, or you sided with England; a loyalist.

In the years leading up the Revolutionary War, American colonist grew increasingly resistant to British authority over the colonies. The British passed a series of taxes that sparked controversy of Parliaments authority to pass legislation over the colonies. These events eventually lead to the Boston Tea party, which was a protest of the Tea Act and British rule. The British response to escalating situation in Boston was a show of force placing the city under military rule. These actions untied the Americans colonies under the goal of Independence. The American Revolution was lost by the British due to supply and terrain issues, unclear strategy, and military miscalculations.

The Boston Massacre took place after British soldiers were antagonized and became fed up. The soldiers opened fire and in the end eleven men were hit and five of them died. This stoked the flames of fury in the British colonies. One colonist said, “The fatal fifth of March, 1770, can never be forgotten. The horrors of that fateful night are but too deeply impressed on our hearts” (Document 6-2). People could not accept this terrible treatment from Britain any longer. Colonists took the opportunity to protest when news of the Tea Tax spread throughout the colonies. It was seen as “an insidious plot to trick Americans into buying the duties tea” (Roark 142). On the last day to pay the duties for British tea, around 150 men dressed as indigenous people dumped every last ounce of tea into the Boston Harbor. It was a political demonstration that showed the British that their taxes would not be tolerated. The protestors “rowed them [the boats] into those parts of the harbor wherever the tea was visible, and by beating it with oars and paddles, so thoroughly drenched it, as to render its entire destruction inevitable…” (Document 6-3). The goal to make a point was successful, but it came with intense repercussion, which the colonists also rebelled against. In summary, tensions between the British and their colonists were caused by Britain’s unsavory actions, primarily

This was yet another taxation at American ports on things such as glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. The colonists were frustrated by yet another taxation without representation. They began smuggling in teas at a cheap price. This led the British officials to be placed in places, such as Boston, to restore order. The tension between the colonists and the British was obvious and inevitably led to fighting. In this case, The Boston Massacre.

American history is full of battles and freedom fighters. From the Boston tea party to voting rights. America fought against a king who was unfair and unjust. They may have had a civil war but it was also for the idea that rights were being taken away. The country has many amazing historical characters that made it the country it is today. This paper will discuss the Boston Tea Party, George Washington’s inaugural address, his warnings upon leaving office as well as the Boston Massacre, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and John Adams on voting rights.

The Tea Act was an excellent example of how the British treatment was extremely aggressive. For instance, Britain banned all sale on non-britain tea, which then lead to the colonists getting extremely aggravated. By doing this, the colonists of Boston, Massachusetts rebled by dressings as mohawks, and dumping all tea into the Boston Harbor, which soon would be called, “The Boston Tea Party”.

The 1773 Tea Act did cause the American Revolution in that it sparked huge opposition amongst the colonists. It was the third time that the British had tried to tax the Americans — both the 1765 Stamp Act and the 1767 Townshend Duties had been repealed due to such opposition. The Tea Act was the final straw for many colonists — the Sons of Liberty organised a huge protest in which they boarded the ships carrying the East India Company’s tea, and threw £10,000 worth of tea into the sea in defiance. This was known as the Boston Tea Party and demonstrated to the British that the Americans were not willing to accept British taxation. The slogan ‘no taxation without representation’ was frequently used, showing how the Americans felt the British, in trying to tax them, were attempting to impose a tyrannical rule. The Boston Tea Party provoked outrage in Britain, with many of the politically conscious calling for the Americans to be punished. This then led to the Coercive Acts in 1774, which aimed at isolating Boston — although it only resulted in increasing the tension between the

Because of Britain?s unfair taxes and laws the colonists reacted in several different ways. Some reactions were economic, some were written, some were political and some were even violent. One reaction was to the taxes put on tea. The colonists had the Boston Tea Party in which colonists dressed as Indians and dumped hundreds of crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. (Doc#6) One form of violent protest was tarring and feathering. (Doc#2) It happened to a British customs inspector named John Malcom. He was stripped naked tarred and feathered, and dragged around town by horse drawn cart. (Doc#3) Another form of violent protest was when a stuffed dummy was hung in Boston representing a British tax collector named Andrew Oliver. Later that same night, his house was torn down in minutes by protesters. (Doc#4) A form of boycott was organized by the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. They made a poster saying not to buy anything from William Jackson, that if they did they would bring disgrace to