Boston Tea Party Turns 250 Years Old: 8 Things You May Not Know

Boston Tea Party is arguably one of the most iconic political protests and it is considered a pivotal event leading to the American Revolution, when a bunch of tax-hating members of Sons of Liberty dumped King George’s beloved tea into the harbour in an act of defiance.

It Was Not Called ‘Boston Tea Party’

When the act of defiance was committed on December 16, 1773, it was not known as the “Boston Tea Party” but rather it was blandly referred to as “the destruction of the tea.” The earliest mention did not appear until 1826 when the moniker was popularised by two novels.

Tea Hurled in Boston Harbour Would be Worth Millions Today

The tea that the members of the Sons of Liberty and others dumped in the Boston Harbour after boarding the East India Company’s ships weighed 41,700 kilograms and would be worth nearly $2 million today.

Tea was Chinese Not Indian

While the East India Company exported a lot of goods from India, it obtained almost all of its tea from China. In fact, the British EIC did not install its first tea plantations in India until the 1830s.

Not a Protest Against Higher Taxes on Tea

The biggest surprise about the Boston Tea Party is that it was not a protest against a new tax hike on tea. Tea like other commodities including paper, paint, and oil had been taxed by the Crown since 1767. However, in 1770, other import taxes were lifted, but not the ones on tea, serving as a pointed reminder of the King’s control.

Not Political But May Be Commercial Interests

Sons of Liberty were responding to the British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773 which was said to be a bailout of the EIC that was being weighed down with unsold tea and allowed it to sell to the American Colonies at lower prices which would hurt Sons of Liberty, many of whom were merchants and even tea smugglers.

George Washington condemned the Boston Tea Party

America’s most prominent Revolutionary figure condemned the act in a strongly worded statement saying “the cause of Boston…ever will be considered as the cause of America,” and like many elites at the time believed that the perpetrators should compensate the British EIC for the damages.

Second Boston Tea Party

Three months after the first so-called “Boston Tea Party”, around 60 Bostonian men sent around 30 chests of tea to the bottom of the ocean, again, although it was quite as impressive as the original.

Series of 'Tea Parties'

The original Tea Party protest inspired several American colonies to take similar steps over the next few months, including in cities such as New York, Annapolis, Charleston, and South Carolina, where patriots dumped tea off ships or burned it.