The Boston Tea Party is a well-known event that occurred on December 16, 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts. In response to Parliament requiring the British Colonies in America to only purchase tea from the British company, colonists refused to let British tea be landed in their ports.
While the actions in Boston are well remembered today, many don’t know that the same actions occurred in several other colonies. The New York Tea Party occurred on April 22, 1774. Unlike the Bostonians who disguised themselves, the New Yorkers did not use disguises but openly destroyed the tea that had been brought into the New York harbor.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina all have reports of the dumping or burning of the tea of the East India Company in resistance to the unconstitutional measures of king and Parliament. It became unpatriotic to drink tea to the point that even smuggled tea was suspect.
The unity of the colonies in resisting these oppressive, protectionist measures continued through their declaring independence and through the American Revolutionary War. It is this unity against bad government that should unite Citizens today in securing individual rights.
Will you join us?
“But, pardon me, my fellow citizens, I know you want not zeal or fortitude. You will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle. However, difficult the combat, you never will decline it when freedom is the prize.”
Dr. Joseph Warren ~ Delivered at Boston, 6 March 1775
Find out about America’s other Tea Parties protests brought to you by Virginia 250:
