The Boston Tea Party

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The Boston Tea Party

Though out history many events are interpreted different ways. One of these events having multiple points of view is the beloved part of American history, the Boston Tea Party. Ever since we started school the Boston tea party has been viewed as a revolt by the freedom loving patriots, demonstrating against the oppressive British government by mobbing a ship and destroying numerous chests of tea and throwing the contents over board into the Boston harbor. After further research, it is found that there is more than one view on the matter, depending on where you stood. The more patriotic view point differed greatly from the view that the act was wholly self serving.

One of the more patriotic views of the Boston tea party was the basic mob over throwing the tyrannical British government view. It is said that when the Townshend Acts were ignorantly passed by Charles Townshend, totally ignoring the fate of the Stamp Act , they were immediately repealed, except the duty on tea. Due to the bountiful harvests in India, a large supply of tea was brought to the British East India Company. With this new surplus of tea and new parliamental backing, the company set out to undercut American tea merchants and take hold of the American tea market for them selves . But there was resistance in the colonies, Sam Adams started warning the colonists of the East India Company’s plan to under cut the American merchants. He claimed the British were trying to bribe the Americans into following the crown once again by buying this much cheaper British tea. Sam made posters and flyers stating that “Tea stood for tyranny.” In December, 1773 when the first of the ships carrying the British tea arrived in the states, Sam Adams organized...

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...es away. The smugglers came up with their own propaganda to try and rally support from the colonists. They made signs that said “taxation without representation is tyranny!” which was total nonsense because the colonist were not even represented at home. When the tea arrived in Boston, the merchants tried for weeks to pursued the governor to send the tea back. He refused and on the last day before the tea would be sent back and the taxes paid anyway, Sam Adams and John Hancock organized a surgical strike of 30-40 men, each with specific instructions, to destroy tea and nothing else. They disposed of the tea quietly and efficiently while being watched by the whole town, including the Royal Navy. This view shows how the party was highly organized and well planned out. It was planned to the last detail to destroy the British tea and save their own business interests.

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