Boston tea party
The Boston Tea Party was one of the most effective
pieces of political theater
ever staged. John Adams, no fan
of mob action, wrote of the
dumping of the tea: "There is a
dignity, a majesty, a sublimity,
in this last effort of the patriots
that I greatly admire."Scholar
Pauline Maier describes the
event About 50
members of the political organization, The
Sons of Liberty, boarded
3 ships in Boston Harbor. Some were dressed, not very convincingly, as
Mohawk Indians. In a very
orderly and quiet fashion,
they plunked [sterling]9,659 worth
of Darjeeling into the sea.
The Boston Tea Party was a protest
of British tax policies.
It came in the midst of a boycott of
English tea during which
the East India Company, which
owned the tea, had seen its
profits plummet in the wake of a
boycott of tea in the colonies.
Consumption in the colonies
had fallen from 900,000 lbs.
in 1769 to 237,000 lbs. just 3
years later. The tea
was shipped by an exporter in London,
which is still in existence
and sells a tea called "Boston
Harbour."
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