American history before 1877 is very interesting and forms part of the most studied period of American history. According to Marciniak (2016), numerous historical events took place that would shape the land that would later become the United States of America. Notably, the arrival of Columbus into the Caribbean resulted into numerous European countries competing for territories in North America. The intense competition pitting Britain, Spain, and France dragged the Native Americans and the African slaves into the fray making the future United States of America a chess board where geographical struggles took center stage (Marciniak, 2016). Britain gained control of much of the Northern America setting up colonies across America.
One of the most notable historical events in the United States is the Boston protests dubbed the Tea Party. The protestors rioted in Boston against the Tea Act that gave tea selling rights American territories to one the East India Company (Marciniak, 2016). In addition to getting selling rights, the British company was exempted from paying taxes created by the Townshend Acts subsequently providing competition for local tea people in the business. The protests being highly intense resulted to some demonstrators destroying tea shipment belonging to the British company.
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Research by Moss (2016) confirms that the protests in Boston took varied form with the demonstrators mainly aiming at protesting taxation on tea with the Sons of Liberty arguing that there should be no taxation without representation. The main method of protesting by the Boston citizens in Massachusetts Bay took to throwing tea shipments into the Boston Harbor leading to unbearable acts. The protests were met with a harsh response from the British government leading to the American Revolution.
Development of the Protests
A rising taste for tea by Europeans resulted in numerous rival companies being founded to import tea from China. However, according to Marciniak (2016), the British parliament gave one company monopoly over the importation of tea into the American territories. The result of the monopolization was protested by British Americans and Britons who argued that
Ships carrying tea were sent to the new lands with Americans learning of the Tea Act details when already the tea shipment had been sent. Subsequently, there was rising pressure where a group of Whigs who referred to themselves as Sons of Liberty started campaigning for consignees to resign. The main argument for the build-up of the protest was among other things, the question of the British parliament’s authority in the colonies. The monopolization of tea importation created room for smuggling of tea especially into Boston subsequently having the smugglers play a significant part in the Boston protests.
When tea shipments arrived at the Boston Harbor, there was a meeting held that was aimed at convincing the ships to return to Britain without paying duty (Moss, 2016). The Boston Governor Hutchinson failed to grant permission to the ship carrying tea consignments to leave without paying duty. Consequently, Adams, who had convened a meeting at the Meeting House tried to control the meeting but people poured out of the meeting donning Mohawk costumes. The costumes served to disguise protesters given that the protest was illegal while still trying to identify with the American natives. Within three hours of the protests, over three hundred chests of tea had been dumped into the waters.
Immediate and long-term implications of the tea party
The protests were not met with friendly reactions by the British parliament which reacted to reform the colonial government, bring back British authority in Massachusetts, and punish Boston for destroying personal property. Studies by Moss (2016), reveal that the intense reactions of the British parliament were largely viewed by colonists as a violation of natural rights, constitutional rights, and colonial charters. Given the violations, the colonists convened a Continental Congress with colonists being inspired to undertake similar protests that included the burning of Peggy Stewart. The actions of the Boston protestors became one of the numerous contributors to the American Revolution.
Moss (2016), further argues that the tea party has since its occurrence served to inspire other events in the history of America. Notably, the mass meeting that championed for the impeachment of Richard Nixon took a similar twist as the tea party. Protestors during the call for Nixon’s impeachment boarded a ship in Boston harbor with an effigy of Nixon to protest the oil crisis subsequently dumping empty oil drums into the sea in a similar way as the dumping of tea was done.
The modern politics in the United States have been influenced by the Boston protests. The protest to the federal tax code, two conservative Congressmen dumped a chest marked as “tea” into the Boston Harbor in 1998 is one significant example of the implications that the tea party has had to date. Political funds-drive have been inspired by a “tea party” funds drive of Ron Paul creating a precedent that dominated politics in 2007 leading to voter victory for Republicans.
References
Marciniak, K. (2016). 12 incredible facts about the Boston Tea Party .
Moss, M. (2016). America's tea parties: Not one but four! : Boston, Charleston, New York, Philadelphia .
