“Boston Harbor a teapot this night!”
The Tea Party that Ignited a Revolution
By Karen P., Customer Service Manager
Tea has been woven into the fabric of history for millennia, being at the center of exploration and trade as well as the cause of war. By the time the French and Indian war ended in America in 1763, the British Crown had amassed a huge debt. They reasoned that the American colonies should contribute towards payment of that debt as the war was fought on and for their land. A series of taxes were issued on a number of commodities the colonists used in daily life — molasses, wine, fabric, paper for printing, glass, lead, paint and tea. Over time, after boycotts from the colonies and protests from merchants in England over those boycotts, all of the taxes were repealed. Except for the 3-pence per pound tax on tea. On one fateful night in Boston, that tax lit the flame of revolution and started a long, tumultuous journey that ended in the creation of a new, independent nation.
“I see the clouds that now rise thick and fast on the horizon; the thunders roll, and the lightnings play, and to that God who rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm I commit my country.”
– Josiah Quincy, December 16, 1773
It was a clear, cold night in December 1773 and winter’s icy grip drew near. A ghostly sliver of moon was setting over Boston harbor. Trying to chase away the early evening darkness, candles burned in the Old South Meeting House, the largest building in colonial Boston. Angry voices rang out from within. Over 5,000 men had streamed in from all over the colony of Massachusetts and pushed into the church, the overflow spilling out into the street. This was the last of a series of public protest meetings, “the body of the people” debating and struggling for weeks over what to do about the three ships — the Eleanor, the Beaver and the Dartmouth — anchored at Griffin’s Wharf and presently guarded by John Hancock’s Corps of Cadets. Specifically, the controversy was over the hundreds of East India Company tea chests that filled the ships’ bellies. This tea was being forced on the colonies by a monopoly perpetrated by the Crown and taxed without the colonists’ consent or representation in Parliament. Led by patriots such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the crowd unanimously agreed that the ships should sail back to England with their cargo. The midnight deadline to land the tea and collect the tax loomed like a storm on the horizon.
A last minute appeal to the royal governor, Thomas Hutchinson, was met with contempt: “I warn, exhort and require you and each of you thus unlawfully assembled, forthwith to disperse and surcease all further unlawful proceedings at your utmost peril.” As Samuel Adams finally adjourned the meeting, he angrily shouted, “This meeting can do no more to save the country.” John Hancock called out, “Let every man do what is right in his own eyes.” In eerie response, a round of blood-curdling war whoops echoed from a band of young men that had crept up outside, disguised as Mohawks in “paint and fur and feather.” Shouts of “Boston Harbor a teapot this night!” and “Hurrah for Griffin’s Wharf!” rang through the hall. Everyone, except for their leaders who would be easily recognized and needed “plausible deniability,” poured out of the meeting house, intent on their mission to the wharf.
Many years later at age 93, George Robert Twelves Hewes, as one of the oldest living survivors of the “destruction of the tea in the harbor,” recalled the events from that night. As the crowd from “Old South” followed the “Mohawks” to the wharf, Hewes daubed coal dust from the local blacksmith on his face and hands and joined a group of well-disguised men striding purposefully down the street.
“I fell in with many who were dressed, equipped and painted as I was…..When we arrived at the wharf, there were three of our number who assumed an authority to direct our operations, to which we readily submitted….We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches, and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders; first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose them to the effects of the water. In about three hours from the time we went on board, we had thus broken and thrown overboard every tea chest to be found in the ship…We were surrounded by British armed ships, but no attempt was made to resist us. We then quietly retired to our several places of residence, without having any conversation with each other, or taking any measures to discover who were our associates.”
– George Robert Twelves Hewes,
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party,
Alfred F. Young
Torches held high threw a stark light on the scene at Griffin’s Wharf. Thousands of people watched silently from the shore while the boarding parties methodically dumped all of the tea — 342 chests valued at £9,659 (over $1 million today) — into the harbor. The “Mohawks” were said to have numbered over 100 men, mainly skilled craftsmen that included the famous silversmith Paul Revere. Many of them met beforehand at various secret locations around Boston and had all pledged to keep their identities secret to avoid prosecution. It wasn’t until 60 years later that a list of fiftyeight names was published, followed soon afterwards by an additional list of fifty-five names. Men from diverse walks of life, such as farmers, physicians, carpenters, schoolteachers, clergymen and shopkeepers, had banded together that night for the single purpose of preventing the tea from being landed and taxed.
The tide was very low that evening. Apprentices had to wade into the tidal flats to stir the leaves into the cold water in a “carnivalesque” imitation of the tea brewing practice.
“We were merry, in an undertone, at the very idea of making so large a cup of tea for the fishes.”
– Joshua Wyeth, journeyman blacksmith
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party, Alfred F. Young
By 10 o’clock, about 3 hours from the start, all of the tea was overboard. The crowd dispersed and quietly made their way back to their homes.
“By morning, wind and tidal flows had washed a thick blanket of tea leaves and splintered tea chests over the bay from Boston to the Dorchester flats to the south. According to the Massachusetts Gazette, ‘Those who were from the country went home with a merry heart, and….joy appeared in almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea, others on account of the quietness with which it was effected’.”
– American Tempest, Harlow Giles Unger
Returning home from Plymouth the next morning, John Adams observed splintered chests and clots of tea leaves strewn along the coastline as far as his eye could see. He quickly recorded his thoughts in his diary as soon as he reached his home in Braintree.
“There is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity in this last effort by the Patriots that I greatly admire. The people should never rise without doing something to be remembered — something notable. And striking. This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an Epocha in history.”
– John Adams, December 17, 1773
That same morning, Paul Revere jumped on his horse and galloped all the way to Philadelphia, spreading the tea tale along the way and fanning the flame of rebellion against the Crown. As colonists united in common cause, protests sprung up in New York, Philadelphia and Charleston. Many ships carrying tea turned back from these cities but, in some cases, there was more destruction of the tea, as in Boston. These actions led to the passing of the Boston Port Act, the first of a series of tyrannical responses from Parliament, which completely closed Boston Harbor to all trade except for food, fuel and military supplies. More Intolerable Acts followed. While many supported the patriots’ action in Boston, some southern landholders, such as George Washington of Virginia, viewed it strictly as vandalism. When the British clamped down on Boston and exhibited just how authoritarian they could be, more American colonists became extremely uncomfortable and angry with how this story was unfolding. The march to war and sacrifice and the long labor to birth a new nation had begun.
What kind of teas were dumped into Boston harbor, you may wonder?
“The ropes groaned and stretched with the weight of the heavy tea crates filled with Bohea, Congou, Singlo, Souchong, and Hyson.”
– Defiance of the Patriots, Benjamin L. Carp
Some of the teas were named after their area of origin. In All About Tea Vol. II, William Ukers states that the black tea called Bohea is, “tea from the Wu-i Hills of Fukien Province,” known now as the Wu-yi Hills of Fujian province, and is pronounced “Boo-hee.” Singlo green tea is grown in “the Singlo hill district in the present province of Anhwei, China’s finest green tea area.” Of Congou tea, Ukers says, “a general term used to describe all China blacks, irrespective of district.” Souchong is a black tea with a large leaf, originating from a small bush whose leaves were allowed to grow to an abnormal size. The bestknown variety of Souchong is Lapsang Souchong, whose leaves are smoke-dried over pine fires, which imparts a pronounced “peaty” quality. Hyson green tea is a spring tea. According to Ukers, “It is called Si Chuen Ch’a, or Flowery Spring Tea.” The small, young leaves are rolled and twisted into a long, thin appearance. When steeped, the leaves unfurl in the cup, called the “agony of the leaves” by tea tasters.
The tea shipped to Boston was imported from China by the East India Company. The nearly 17 million pounds stored in their London warehouses was in excess and had to be sold quickly. What better place than the colonies, especially when Parliament was allowing the customs tax paid on the tea to be returned to the company.
“As the Act allowing a Drawback of the whole of the customs paid on tea, if exported to America, is now passed, in which there is a clause empowering the Lords of the Treasury to grant licenses to the India Company, to export tea, duty free, to foreign states, or America…..the quantity expected to arrive this season does also considerably exceed the ordinary demand of twelve months…”
– In a letter from Mr. William Palmer to the directors of the East India Company
London, 19th May, 1773
It was not until 50 years later, in two biographies based on personal interviews with George Robert Twelves Hewes, that the “destruction of the tea” was first referred to as the Boston Tea Party. This tale is now told but there are many more tea stories to share in future articles. For your enjoyment, Upton Tea Imports offers a special tea blend, Old South Meeting House Breakfast Blend, to commemorate the Boston Tea Party. Steep a cup or two and remember that long-ago night in Boston that “turned the world upside-down” and fanned the flame of revolution.