Boston Tea Party

• Tasks
• Background
• Teachers' notes
• External links
• Connections to curriculum

The Boston Tea party marked a critical moment in the history of the American Revolution as an act of colonial defiance against British rule.  In Boston harbour, on 16 December 1773, American colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded British ships and threw 340 chests of tea owned by the East India Company into the water. It was a protest about the tax on tea, levied without representation in the British Parliament and against the monopoly of the East India Company.

The earlier Townshend Acts placed duties on a range of imports to the colonies. These had been repealed; however, the tax on tea remained. A Tea Act was passed in the spring of 1773 to help the East India Company, which faced financial difficulties, and enabled its control of the trade in tea. To further assert its authority over the colonies, and in response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed several acts known as the Coercive Acts. To the colonists, these became known as the Intolerable Acts and paved the way for further resistance and the American Revolution.

Use the documents in this lesson to explore context for the Boston Tea Party and see what some of the documents from the British side reveal about this event and beyond.

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Tasks

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Background

On the night of 16 December 1773, 340 chests of tea were destroyed in Boston Harbour, an event that has gone down in history as the Boston Tea Party. This political and mercantile protest was one of the key events in the lead up to the American Revolutionary War and, ultimately, American independence. 

Those involved in the protest were against the British tax on tea in the Americas and the monopoly of the East India Company on tea there, both expressed by the 1773 Tea Act. 

Tensions regarding taxation in America had been rising since 1763, when Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years’ War and making Britain the dominant imperial power in North America. After this date, the British Parliament sought to tax their subjects in America to recover from a costly war with France and to better defend these colonies from future invasion. 

However, doing so uncovered deeply opposing views regarding the way in which the North American colonies should be taxed. Parliament believed that they had the right to levy taxes upon all subjects within King George III’s dominions. British subjects living in America thought differently. They were not represented in the British Parliament, making decisions thousands of miles away about their livelihoods. They were not against paying taxes to the British Crown and believed that they should set those taxes. 

Protests in America over the 1765 Stamp Act, which imposed a direct tax on almost every form of paper used in the colonies, showed that Americans would not back down over this issue. Parliament was forced to repeal the intolerable Stamp Act in March 1766. However, to ensure that they would be able to enforce laws and taxes on the colonies in future they enacted the 1766 Declaratory Act, which asserted the government’s right to pass laws in the colonies ‘in all cases whatsoever’. 

In 1767 and 1768, Parliament enacted the Townshend Duties – named after the Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend – which proposed new taxes on all lead, glass, paint, and tea imported into the colonies. Again, Americans protested; in Boston, hundreds refused to purchase any of the taxed British imports. Following protests in Boston, George III authorised the dispatch of troops to the area to deal with this rising lawlessness. This ultimately resulted in bloodshed, when on 5 March 1770 nine British soldiers fired at a crowd of hundreds of Bostonians, resulting in the deaths of five American colonists. To ease tensions in America, all the Townshend Duties were repealed, except the one on tea. This meant that tea suddenly became a focus of protest in America. The Sons of Liberty and similar groups, initially established to protest the Stamp Act, encouraged Americans to avoid legally importing tea. This resistance led to a drop in demand for East India Company Tea. The fortunes of this British joint-stock company were closely tied to those of the British State, as they had taken out a significant loan from the Bank of England. 

To save the Company, and to encourage the payment of tea duties in America, Parliament passed the 1773 Tea Act. This act allowed the East India Company to export tea directly to North America, without first going through London. As with the Stamp Act, many in America opposed this for validating Parliament’s right to directly tax American subjects. 

Most American colonies simply protested this act by returning the tea to Britain. However, in Boston, Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to let the ships leave the harbour, and those that opposed the Tea Act in the town refused to let the ships unload. 

On 28 November 1773, a ship carrying East India Tea, the Dartmouth, arrived at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston. According to the Townshend Duty, if the tax was not paid within twenty days of the ship’s arrival, then the ship and its cargo was to be seized by the authorities. That meant that the people of Boston had until December 17 to decide what to do. Over the next few weeks, thousands of concerned citizens attended meetings organised by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Sons of Liberty, where they decided that the tea should be sent back. Meanwhile, two more ships of tea, the Eleanor, and the Beaver, arrived in Boston. However, Governor Hutchinson still refused to release the ships. On the night of December 16th, following another meeting where Governor Hutchinson had refused to budge, a group of people, some disguised as Mohawks, flocked to Griffin’s Wharf, boarded the three ships, and destroyed the entire shipment of tea. 

News of the Boston Tea Party reached London in January 1774. In response, the British Government firstly tried to identify and prosecute the individuals involved. Once that failed, they instead passed a set of repressive acts, colloquially referred to in America as the Intolerable Acts, designed to punish the people of Boston and compel them to compensate the East India Company for the loss of their tea, and to send a message to other North American colonies of the consequences for protests such as the Boston Tea Party. These acts halted trade to Boston, brought Massachusetts under British governmental control, granted immunity to British soldiers and officials to criminal prosecution in the state, and required colonists to house British soldiers. 

The Intolerable Acts only served to bring the American colonies together against Great Britain. In September 1774, representatives from twelve of the thirteen colonies assembled in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress aimed to settle the concerns and frustrations of the Americans with the British King and Government before relations broke down even further. 

The Suffolk Resolves, accepted by the congress on September 17th, encouraged the continued protest of the Intolerable Acts by stockpiling military supplies and boycotting British goods. The Declaration of Rights also developed at this congress, outlining the need for a rebellion if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed. 

These attempts at a peaceful reconciliation failed, however, and in April 1775, less than eighteen months after the Boston Tea Party, American Patriot forces went to war with Great Britain. 

On 4 July 1776, when the Thirteen United States of America declared independence from Great Britain, they referenced the Intolerable Acts – passed in response to the Boston Tea Party – when justifying their actions. They no longer wished to be subject to a king who obstructed the Administration of Justice, cut off their trade, and who imposed taxes on them without their consent. 

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Teachers' notes

This lesson examines documents held at The National Archives that relate to the Boston Tea Party. The aim is to assess their importance for the American Revolution. What do they reveal about Britain’s relationship with the American colonists? These sources, by nature of the collection, largely present the British perspective on the American colonies, which is important for students to keep in mind.

Starter activity

Teachers discuss, using the questions below, the lesson illustration image of the Boston Tea Party.

Explain that the engraving comes from a ‘The History of North America’ by Reverend W. D. Cooper, published in London: E. Newberry in 1789. The book contained ‘a review of the customs and manners of the original inhabitants: the First Settlement of the British Colonies, and their Rise and progress, from the Earliest Period to the time of their becoming United, Free and Independent States’. This image comes from the book held in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of Library of Congress, U.S.A.

• What can you see in the image?
• What does the caption say? How does it contribute to our understanding of the image?
• How does the image depict the Boston Tea Party?
• Who do think was the audience for Cooper’s book?
• How useful is this image for understanding the significance of the Boston Tea Party?
• After examining all the sources in this lesson, how would you re-evaluate this source as evidence for the Boston Tea Party?

In this lesson, students explore the relationship between Britain and her American colonies through several items from The National Archives’ collections, including Parliamentary rolls from Chancery, the Colonial Office, and the War Office. The first source, however, is not from The National Archives. It is an original map showing the British colonies and provinces in America by Thomas Kitchin, ‘Hydrographer to his Majesty’ c.1770. Students are prompted to locate the 13 colonies and places mentioned in the sources that follow. It is important to discuss the meaning of the term ‘British Dominions’ used on the map and to consider the geographical difficulties of government from Britain.

Source 2 provides an image of the Tea Act itself and a short extract from it. The act was passed in the British parliament in May 1773 to help the East India Company, which faced financial difficulties due to unsold tea. It gave the company a monopoly on the tea trade with the American colonies. Students can see that the act is a long parchment roll stitched together. We see that it has been carefully weighted down to make sure it is not damaged when examined and is stored in a document box. The prompt questions help students consider why it was the catalyst for the Boston Tea Party and assess its impact.

Source 3 is probably the earliest British account of the Boston Tea Party, from 17 December 1773. This letter was written by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Leslie of the 64th Regiment of Foot to Lord Viscount Barrington the Secretary at War. Leslie was writing from his barracks at Castle William on an island in Boston Harbour on the day after the Boston Tea Party. It interesting that a soldier like himself wrote directly to address the Secretary of State. This provides the opportunity to discuss the intimate and personal qualities of the letter form. It may lead onto a discussion of the value of letters as historical sources that provide insights into the daily lived experience of individuals.

Source 4 provides an extract from the ‘Massachusetts and Boston Weekly’ newspaper, 23 December 1773. Students can compare this to the earlier British account. It is also an opportunity to discuss why this appears in in The National Archives’ Colonial Office collections.

Source 5 is divided into two parts. The first part consists of extracts from a document requesting legal advice sent to the Attorney General from the Earl of Dartmouth, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in February 1774. The document includes a narrative of events and provides questions concerning the punishment of those involved in the Boston Tea Party. In the second part, students examine extracts from the Attorney General’s responses that say that those involved in the Boston Tea Party had committed treason.  Source 6 is the invoice, dated February 1774, from the East India Company for the destroyed tea from the Boston Tea Party. Students can see the different types of tea that were exported and use The National Archives currency converter to work out its value today.

In Source 7, students look at the Boston Port Act, the first of the Coercive Acts. It authorised the Royal Navy blockade of Boston Harbor and closed Boston’s port to commercial traffic. Exports to foreign ports or provinces were also forbidden. Students consider, amongst other questions, the tone and attitude inferred in this extract from the Act and what its impact was on the colonies.

Source 8 provides long extracts from a letter from Lord Dartmouth, British Secretary of State, to New Jersey Governor William Franklin in July 1775. It mentions Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America since 1763. The inference of the letter is that had it not been for General Gage’s failed attempt at Concord, colonies separately or together possibly might have come to some plan of accommodation. Instead, almost all North America rose against British control.

Source 9 is a proclamation from George III for suppressing rebellion in 1775. In this document, King George III referred to the American colonists as traitors. The proclamation was printed and distributed by William Franklin, the Colonial Governor of New Jersey (1763–1776), a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. His father Benjamin Franklin, however, became one of the most important leaders of the American Revolution and a Founding Father of the United States. Again, the document is important because it allows students to explore the relationship between Britain and her colonies in the context of revolution.

The final document is the iconic Declaration of Independence, which allows students a huge opportunity for discussion and debate.

All documents are provided with transcripts with difficult terms defined in square brackets. Students can work through the questions individually or in pairs and report back to the class. Alternatively, teachers may want to use this lesson in two parts owing to the large number of sources. We would encourage teachers to ask students to explore other original records available online from the links in this lesson.

Finally, although this lesson is aimed at Key Stages 4/5, teachers could use these documents and provide their own questions and/or create simplified transcripts to use with younger students.

Further Activities

• Discuss and debate your choice for the most useful/interesting source in this lesson for understanding Britain’s relationship with the North American colonies.
• Curate your own exhibition on the causes of the American Revolution using the sources in this lesson and the external links to further documents.

Sources

[Illustration image: Wikimedia Commons. Engraving from ‘The History of North America’, by W. D. Cooper, London: E. Newberry, 1789, p.58, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.]

Source 1: A map showing the British colonies and provinces in America, by Thomas Kitchin, ‘Hydrographer to his Majesty’ c.1770. Copyright Bridgeman Images.

Source 2: 1773 Tea Act (13 Geo III, c 44). Catalogue ref: C 65/942.

Source 3: Earliest British account of the Boston Tea Party, 17 Dec 1773. Catalogue ref: WO 40/1:.

Source 4: Copy of the ‘Massachusetts and Boston Weekly’, giving an American account of the Boston Tea Party, Dec 1773. Catalogue ref: CO 5/91.

Source 5: Questions and Answers put to the Attorney and Solicitor General about how to punish rebels in Boston, Feb 1774. Catalogue ref: CO 5/160.

Source 6: The invoice from the East India Company about the destroyed tea from the Boston Tea Party, Feb 1774. Catalogue ref: CO 5/247, pp 185-187.

Source 7: 1774 Boston Port Act (14 Geo III, c 19). One of the Coercive Acts. Catalogue ref: C 65/956:

Source 8: Lord Dartmouth Secretary of State to Governor William Franklin. Catalogue ref: CO 5/992, folios 127-129d.

Source 9: Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion 1775. Catalogue ref: CO 5/993, folio 7.

Source 10: Declaration of Independence 1776. Catalogue ref: EXT 9/1.

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External links

Boston Tea Party
Episode on The Boston Tea Party from The National Archives’ podcast ‘On the Record’.

John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations – The American Revolution
An online document exhibition from the Library of Congress.

Treason against the state: America declares independence
Find out more about the Declaration of Independence from this National Archives blog.

Explore a timeline from Library of Congress from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789.

Milestone Documents: Revolution and the New Nation
Milestone documents of the American Revolution from US The National Archives in Washington D.C.

The Boston Tea Party
More on the Boston Tea Party 1773 and its impact from the Bill of Rights Institute.

Connections to curriculum

Key Stage 4

Edexcel GCSE History:

• British America: Empire & Revolution 1713-83.

Key Stage 5

AQA GCE History:

• The origins of the American Revolution, 1760–1776
• Enforcing the Colonial Relationship, 1763–1774
• Ending the Colonial Relationship, 1774–1776

Edexcel GCE History:

• Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914: The loss of the American colonies, 1770–83

OCR GCE History:

• The American Revolution 1740–1796: Causes of the American Revolution.

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