US History

Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Boston Tea Party.

A petition to the selectmen of Boston for the resignation of the tea consignees, November 17, 1773.

The consignees were the officials appointed to oversee the sale of tea and the collection of the taxes on behalf of the British East India Company. Richard Clarke, a Boston merchant, was one of the consignees working on behalf of the tea company.

Transcript:

The Selectmen of the Town of Boston 
Boston, Nov. 17th 1773

Gentl[eme]n. 
Whereas at the late meeting of the Town their Committee applied to the Messr. Richard Clark & c. supposed consignees of Teas to be exported by the East India Comp[any] to this Port, who then declined giving satisfaction to the Town who requested their resignation of s[ai]d [courus?] ; a? assigning for reason that they were not sufficiently informed upon what terms the Teas would come out on -- The Town being now justly highly allarm[e]d [sic], with the hourly reputation of the arrival of said Teas, & apprehending that said Consignees are now thoroughly apprised of the conditions upon which the India Comp[any] are exporting this detestable commodity in to America we the subscribers request that the Town may as soon as possible, be called together to consult whether further application shall be made to s[ai]d Consignees, or otherwise to act or the Town shall think proper on the present dangerous & allarming [sic] exigence.

Will Powell 
Tho[ma]s Hand? Peck 
James Ivers 
Joseph Warren 
M[???]? or W [???] Doum? 
John Browne? 
Moses Gill 
Eleazer Johnson 
Thomas Lee 
Jos[seph] Henderson 
William Foster 
Tho[mas] Walley 
John Langdon 
Peter Boyers 
John Sweetner Jr. 
Nat Barber 
Nath[aniel] Appleton 
Joseph P. Palmer 
Steph[en] Bruce 
James Swan 
John Winthrop Jr. 
John Marston 
Joshua Pice 
Nathan Spear 
Bossenger Foster

A broadside reporting a meeting of the people of Boston at Faneuil Hall on November 29, 1773 to prevent the sale of East India Company tea.

This meeting took place immediately following the arrival of the first tea ship, the *Dartmouth*, in Boston Harbor. The meeting attendees determined that “they would to the utmost of their Power prevent the landing of the Tea.” The meeting continued over two days. Among their resolutions was to appoint a corps of volunteers to watch the ship at all times to make sure the tea was not unloaded and to send copies of the meeting’s proceedings to New York and Philadelphia.

A view of the port of Boston, including Long Wharf, ca. 1750-1799.

A map of Boston around the time of the American Revolution, including Griffin’s Wharf where the ships of the Boston Tea Party were docked.

An illustration titled “Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor,” 1856. 

An illustration depicting the Boston Tea Party, 1881.

An illustration depicting the Boston Tea Party, ca.1900s.

A broadside from 1876 reproducing a postscript to the *Pennsylvania Gazette* from December 24, 1773 about the destruction of tea in Boston.

This notice reports on the events of December 16 including the efforts of Mr. Rotch, owner of the *Dartmouth*, to negotiate between the demands of the colonists and his legal requirement to turn over the tea to customs officials. The notice also reports on the colonists’ mass meeting at Old South Meeting House, and ultimately the destruction of the tea.


An excerpt from *Traits of the Tea Party*, a memoir of George Hewes, a Tea Party participant, 1835.

George Robert Twelves Hewes was among the last surviving participants of the Boston Tea Party and Revolutionary War. Most participants kept their roles in the Tea Party secret for many years. This biography, by “a Bostonian,” recounts Hewes’ upbringing and details his experience of the Revolution including the night of the Tea Party.


An excerpt from *Tea Leaves*, an 1884 collection of letters and documents relating to the Boston Tea Party.

George Dudley was an official and former chairman of the East India Company in London. The writer of this letter adopted the pseudonym *Anglo Americanus*. 


A notice from Boston announcing the British law blocking Boston Harbor until the East India Company was compensated for its lost tea, 1774.

A cartoon titled “The Bostonians in Distress,” published in London, November 1774.

This cartoon appeared in November 1774, after the British closed the port of Boston in retribution for the Boston Tea Party.

A political cartoon, “Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught,” published in both London and Boston in May and June 1774.

An engraving published in London titled “The Tea-Tax Tempest,” 1778.

Questions

1. Using the “[Able Doctor](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1197)” political cartoon, [George Hewes’ description of his "Indian dress,"](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1193) and the nineteenth and twentieth century images depicting the Boston Tea party, analyze the significance of the Native American costumes during and after the Boston Tea Party? Why do you think the colonists used these costumes and symbolism?
2. Compare the images of the tea party from [1856](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1189), [1881](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1190), and the [early 1900s](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1191). What do they reveal about the element of myth in the public memory surrounding the Boston Tea Party? What do the depictions have in common and where do they differ? 
3. Compare the "[Able Doctor](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1197)" political cartoon and the "[Tea-Tax Tempest](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1198)” cartoon. How do you think each was received in England? How do you think each was received in America? 
4. What do the [map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1188) and the [view of Boston](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1187) reveal about the role of shipping and trade in the city? How might this have impacted Boston colonists’ opinions of the British taxes? Why was the British act of closing the port so “intolerable”?
5. Based on the the [announcement](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1195) of the port closure and the cartoon depicting “[Bostonians in Distress](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1196),” describe some of the ways the British response to the Tea Party furthered the cause of the American Revolution.


Activity

1. Do a close reading of the “[Able Doctor](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1197)” political cartoon together as a class. Ask students to conduct further research to determine what or who each figure represents. Some of the figures represent specific individuals, such as Lord North, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and other members of Parliament. Others are allegorical, or symbolic, and represent broader ideas such as America or Britain. Ask students to expand on the cartoon: If each figure had a word bubble, what would each be saying in this scene?
2. The broadsides, announcements, and political cartoons in this set represent the ways in which news was shared in the Revolutionary-era. Imagine that the Boston Tea Party took place in the age of Twitter, a platform that has helped support revolution and protest today. Inspired by the sources in the set, assign students specific roles (examples might include George Hewes, tea consignee Richard Clarke, one of the signers of the petition to the Selectmen of Boston, a colonial tea merchant, the captains of the tea ships, or Bostonians who attended the mass meetings at Faneuil Hall). Students should create a handle for their assigned role and research that person’s perspective and involvement in the Boston Tea Party. Have students create a mock Twitter conversation tracking the progress of the Boston Tea Party. Students should consider what hashtag(s) would represent their cause and the ways in which they would interact with the other participants.  This student-created project about protests to the Stamp Act might serve as a useful model: [https://twitter.com/killingstamp](https://twitter.com/killingstamp). 

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Boston Tea Party

Resources

1. [The Coming of the American Revolution](https://www.masshist.org/revolution/teaparty.php), Massachusetts Historical Society. 
2. [Boston Tea Party History](http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-party-history), Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.  
3. [Boston: 1774](http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_boston1774.html) in Liberty! The American Revolution, PBS.  

Overview

On December 16, 1773, over one hundred American colonists dressed as Native Americans boarded three merchant ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea (valued at approximately $1.7 million in today’s currency) into the water. The tea belonged to the British East India Company, which had been granted a monopoly over tea imports into the colonies by the Tea Act of May 1773. This monopoly let the company undercut colonial merchants’ prices on untaxed tea, forcing colonists who bought the cheaper product to recognize a British tax. Three ships loaded with tea, the *Dartmouth*, the *Eleanor*, and the *Beaver*, had arrived in Boston between November 28 and December 15. Colonists initially insisted that the tea be returned to England, but the colonial governor of Massachusetts and the East India Company’s consignees—officials empowered to sell and collect taxes on the tea—refused. 

In response, the Sons of Liberty organized a mass meeting of thousands at Boston’s Old South Meeting House.  When final word came that the tea ships would not be allowed to return to England, the Sons of Liberty set in motion a secret plan to destroy the tea. A group of colonists disguised in Native American attire headed from the meeting to Griffin’s Wharf, where the tea ships were moored. Many hundreds more followed to watch the destruction of the tea. 

When word got back to England about what the Bostonians had done, British officials punished the rebellious Massachusetts colonists by passing a series of laws that became known as the “Intolerable Acts,” further increasing tensions between Britain and the American colonists. The destruction of the tea, which came to be known as the Boston Tea Party, was a crucial turning point in the escalation of the American Revolution and became a powerful symbol of American protest and independence.

English

The Boston Tea Party

boston-tea-party_12_7b3b8e259a08f880d986d3b0b18efff1.jpg

Courtesy of Boston Public Library via Digital Commonwealth.

Dawe, Philip, “Bostonians in distress, plate II,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/7b3b8e259a08f880d986d3b0b18efff1.

A cartoon titled “The Bostonians in Distress,” published in London, November 1774.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 12 of 14 in the Primary Source Set The Boston Tea Party