Today's Tea Party vs. The Tea Party of Boston

So, as I see it...the original political Tea Party never existed. The Boston Tea Party is named after the skirmish at the wharf on Boston Harbor, December 16, 1773 in which three ship's cargo of tea was dumped overboard. This was done in protest of a BAIL OUT of a financially embarrassed corporation. These people recognized themselves as Libertarians - Liberals!

From the diary of a colonist reporter...

London, England March 22, 1765

The British Parliament today has imposed a Stamp Act Tax on all American colonists requiring them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they use, including playing cards. These funds, according to the Parliament's spokesperson is to be used to finance defense of the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains with 10,000 troops.

While small, residents of the colonies have voiced opposition to the tax because they feel it is setting a standard of opening the door to more taxation without representation. It is felt to be a direct attempt on the part of England to raise money without prior approval of the colonial legislatures. Heretofore, taxes and duties were for regulation of commerce.

Williamsburg, Virginia May 30, 1765

The Virginia House of Burgesses adopted today Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves. There are seven resolutions of which five have been adopted and passed.

Essentially the Stamp Act Resolves declare that the colonists have the same rights as the English, more particularly, the right to taxation with representation. That unless the Virginia House of Burgesses has voted on the taxes, then they will not stand and anyone standing with the Parliament taxing the people of Virginia...they will be considered enemies of the colony.

Williamsburg, Virginia June 1, 1765

The Virginia House of Burgesses yesterday adopted five of seven of Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves. However, it was reported that after further debate, the fifth resolution has been expunged. In response, Virginia Governor Fauquier has voiced disapproval of the Patrick Henry Stamp Act Resolutions, and has dissolved the Virginia House of Burgesses because of to it's passage.

Williamsburg, Virginia September 1765

It has been reported that Richard Henry Lee had his slaves lead a demonstration against the Stamp Act imposed upon the colonists by Parliament earlier this year. They carried multiple effigies of George Mercer, Virginia's stamp distributor who is due to arrive before the tax takes effect. The effigies were hanged and burned at the end of the day and hanged and burned the next day. Sources say that while Lee has been vocal about the Stamp Act before it was enacted, he had applied for the position of stamp distributor and was passed over for Mr. Mercer.

New York City, New York. October 1765

Nine colonies met this month in New York City, New York to create a Stamp Act Congress. They have adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances in which it declares that all freeborn Englishmen cannot be taxed without their consent. Since the colonies are not represented in the Parliament then the taxes are unconstitutional.

Williamsburg, Virginia October 1765

George Mercer has arrived in Virginia this month and was met by angry crowds in both Hampton and Williamsburg. Mercer resigned the next day as did many of his counterparts in other colonies.

London, England March, 1766

Due to the colonists resistance to the Stamp Act Tax, it's becoming unenforceable and the fear of lost revenue, the British Parliament has revoked the Stamp Act Tax. It has. however, also reasserted that the Parliament has complete legislative authority over the American colonists.

London, England January 1767

The House of Commons, today passed a series of laws that will allowing them to raise revenue, tighten customs enforcement, and generally impose imperial authority. The Townshend Acts, sponsored by Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, imposes duties on glass, paper, tea, lead and paint. It also authorizes blank warrants, trials without juries, suspends the New York assembly for not complying with the Quartering Act of 1765 and suspended the legislature until New York provided Her Majesty's troops with all they needed.

In the colonies constitutional petitions, violence and boycotts ensued for the next year. Boston merchants began boycotting English goods again. In 1768 the Massachusetts Assembly was dissolved for sending a letter to the other colonies explaining a common plight. British troops were sent to enforce the Townshend laws. The boycott and discontent among the Americas resulted in the repeal of the Townshend Acts on March 5, 1770. However, the Tea Tax remained intact because of it's lucrative nature.

Also on March 5, 1770, the same day of the repeal of the Townshend Acts, a gang of colonists were harrassing a group of British soldiers. This was something done daily in protest of the Quartering Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts in general. Eventually one of the troops lashed out at them bringing more colonists to the scene. Someone began ringing the church bells which usually meant there was a fire. The British troops called for help, setting up what is now known as the Boston Massacre.

Any attempt at calming the crowd failed and things went very badly, very quickly. A soldier fired into the crowd. More shots followed, leaving several wounded and five dead including an African-American named Crispus Attucks.

The crowd and the soldiers quickly dispersed.

The Massacre

On March 5, 1770, the same day of the repeal of the Townshend Acts, a gang of colonists were harassing a group of British soldiers. This was something done daily in protest of the Quartering Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts in general. Eventually one of the troops lashed out at them bringing more colonists to the scene. Someone began ringing the church bells which usually meant there was a fire. The British troops called for help, setting up what is now known as the Boston Massacre.

Any attempt at calming the crowd failed and things went very badly, very quickly. A soldier fired into the crowd. More shots followed, leaving several wounded and five dead including an African-American named Crispus Attucks. The crowd and the soldiers quickly dispersed.

The Boston Tea Party

Parliament came up with a plan to give a financially embarrassed East India Company sole importation of tea to America in May of 1773 while at the same time reducing the tea tax.

However, knowing that if they paid the duty, the colonists would be acknowledging Parliament's right to tax them. When the ships arrived in Philadelphia and New York, they were not allowed to land. In Charleston, the ship docked, but the cargo was sent to a warehouse where it stayed for three years. It was eventually sold, but by the Patriots to finance the revolution.

In Boston, December 16, 1773, as many as 7,000 angry locals were at a warf where three ships from the East India Company had docked. A meeting at the Old South Meeting House made the decision to force the ships to leave without paying the duty. However, the Collector of Customs refused to send the ships on their way. Re-assembling back at the Meeting House, 200 men, some disguised as Indians, whooping war chants, marched on to the warf, descended on the three ships, and dumped the cargo into the Boston Harbor.

In March 1774 The Port of Boston was closed by Parliament when it passed the five Intolerable Acts punishing the colonies and thus lighting the fuse to ignite the American Revolution.

So, as I see it...the original political Tea Party never existed. The Boston Tea Party is named after the skirmish at the wharf on Boston Harbor, December 16, 1773 in which three ship's cargo of tea was dumped overboard. This was done in protest of a BAIL OUT of a financially embarrassed corporation. These people recognized themselves as Libertarians - Liberals!