The Texas Historian, Volume 69, 2008-2009 Page: 2
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.' HE Mcmber o f thee AiTociation of the Son o
S Liberty, are rcqueficd to mn-c at the City- Ill .
=vat one o Clock, To-morrow, (being Friday) on B .
.ne o the utmo Lmporrance ;-And every other Frie, ,
,to r, Liberties, and Trade of America, are herebyj
rn'o't cordially invited, to mect at the ame Time and
SPIcc. The Committee of the of ijNciation. .
' Thnurfdav, NEW-YORKr,i6th December, 1773.
Advertisement for the Sons of Liberty, New York 1773.
Credit: Courtesy Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Divisionwere tried for murder, but convicted
of lesser crimes.9
The Tea Act: The Final Spark
The coming years saw more con-
flicts and fewer compromises. One
conflict, the passage of the "Tea Act,'
ended with an unfair compromise
and could have provided the spark
needed for the patriots to break free
from the government of King George
III. This act aided the failing East
India Tea Company and "allowed a
drawback of the duties of customs on
the exportation of tea to any of His
Majesty's colonies or plantations in
America; to increase the deposit on
... tea to be sold at the India Compa-
ny's sales; and to empower the com-
missioners of the treasury to grant
licenses to the East India Company to
export tea duty-free."'0 Commercial
merchants felt that this act created a
"monopoly," and boycotted it by
refusing to purchase tea or by making
their own tea. Despite their efforts,
this "protest" was not as effective in
getting the British government to
repeal its laws as past protests had
been. Some colonists sought another
way to voice their concerns; they
turned to Samuel Adams."
Adams, a key political figure and
writer from Boston who wanted
independence, published a letter to
the colonists stating that the Tea Act
would "destroy the trade of the
colonies and increase the revenue" of
the East India Tea Company.12 Once
these words were printed, BostoniansBostonians declared that any
future importer of taxed tea
would "be deemed an enemy to
his own country;' and the tea
returned to Britain.
felt they should apologize for the
"recent shameful record of importing
taxed tea" for profit and "wiped its
slate clean."13 Bostonians declared
that any future importer of taxed tea
would "be deemed an enemy to his
own country," and the tea returned to
Britain. A group volunteered to seek
out those who violated this procla-
mation.14 To strengthen their "grass-
roots" campaign against the Tea Act,
Bostonians consulted the Sons of
Liberty.
Adams held meetings to deter-
mine how Boston could advance the
"cause" of breaking ties with England.
One proposal was to force the newly-
created tea agents to resign and have
Bostonians control what came in and
out of the port. When the
Dartmouth, a cargo ship carrying tea
to be sold to the colonists, arrived in
the Boston harbor, British Governor
Thomas Hutchinson required that
the ship be unloaded and the East
India Tea Company be paid within 16
days of its arrival. 15 Adams saw this
proclamation as an opportunity to
escalate the growing conflict. The
next day, he demanded that all of thetea be sent back to Britain and that
the required payment be lifted.
Hutchinson, believing that nothing
less than British authority in America
was at stake, refused to budge.'6
Bostonians were given only one
option: storing the tea in the Boston
Port.'7 Even though Adams and his
supporters pressured the tea agents to
send the cargo back, they refused to
do so.
The stage was set, and on Decem-
ber 16, 1773, members of the Sons of
Liberty, dressed in the "costume of an
Indian [and] equipped with a small
hatchet," proceeded to Griffin's wharf
to participate in what is now known
as the Boston Tea Party.is According
to historian Bruce E. Johansen, a pro-
fessor at the University of Nebraska
at Omaha, as the "tea symbolized
imported British oppression and tax-
ation without representation"' the
Indians symbolized "its antithesis-a
'trademark' of an emerging American
identity, and a voice for liberty,
against British oppression.""
George Hewes, a participant in
the Boston Tea Party, later wrote that
the leaders "divided [them] into three
parties, for the purpose of boarding
the three ships which contained the
tea at the same time."'20 Hewes' party
was to demand that the captain to
turn over the keys to the crate. "The
captain promptly replied, and deliv-
ered the articles, but requested [of
him] at the same time to do no dam-
age to the ship or rigging."21 The
group was then "ordered by [their]
commander to open the hatches and
take out all the chests of tea and
throw them overboard, and [the
members] immediately proceeded to
execute his orders, first cutting and
splitting the chests with [their] toma-
hawks, so as thoroughly to expose
them to the effects of the water."22
After three hours of working in
the darkness of night, they "had thus
broken and thrown overboard every
tea chest to be found on the ship,
while those in the other ships were
disposing of the tea in the same
way."23 The colonists were careful to
damage no other properties. Even
though they were surrounded by
armed British ships, they met no
resistance.24
During the "rebellion,"' there were
accounts of people trying to "steal"
the damaged tea to sell at market.25
According to George Hewes, Captain* 2 / TEXAS HISTORIAN
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 69, 2008-2009, periodical, 2008; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391319/m1/4/?q=%22span-tex%22: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.