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Shaunacy Medeiros Southern New Hampshire University HIS 200 Introduction The year is 1773, when the Tea Act: a tax on tea by the Parliament of Great Britain, has just been passed, and American colonists are not happy. They strongly oppose the Tea Act because they feel that Parliament does not have a right to put a tax on the tea, and they do not want to be coerced into buying tea from one single company. Samuel Adams, an American statesman from Boston and his group: the Sons of Liberty, lead a protest to show their outrage at the Parliament of Great Britain. This political protest is known as the Boston Tea Party, where American colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dump three hundred and fortytwo chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company, into the Boston Harbor. Although the Boston Tea Party, led by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, was an opposition to the Tea Act of 1773, it actually served as the spark to the American Revolution and showcased the patriotism of the American colonists. The Boston Tea Party was an opposition to “taxation without representation,” however, it was actually more complicated than just that alone. American colonists felt that Britain was unfairly taxing them to pay for the expenses accrued during the French and Indian War. Since the 18th century, tea had been a hot commodity among American colonists. A passage from a proposal by Gilbert Berkly to the East India Company, discussing tea consumption of American colonists’ states, “they drink tea twice a day … makes the yearly consumption of 5,703,125 lbs” (Drake, 1884, p. 200). The fact that American colonists were being unfairly taxed on something they enjoyed frequently, left them outraged. The Townshend’s Revenue Acts: a series of

measures passed by British Parliament to put a tax on imported goods to America, was one of the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party, that set everything in motion. American colonists took it upon themselves to get back at Britain, by dumping all of the imported tea into the Boston harbor, which ultimately led to the start of the American Revolution. Body Tensions were now extremely high between Britain and America, which resulted in a full out war for independence. When news of the destruction of tea surfaced in England, people were angry and astonished (Drake, 1884). Members of the British Parliament had said, “The town of Boston ought to be knocked about their ears and destroyed” (Drake, 1884, p. 88). American colonists, on the other hand, felt proud and were filled with joy. They were joyous because the British ships were now cleared and everything was quiet (Hewes, 1835). However, shortly after the dumping of the tea, came the many consequences by British Parliament. The destruction of the tea left King George III infuriated. In 1774, Britain punished American colonists by coercing them into new rules, known as the Intolerable Acts; a consequence to the Boston Tea Party. The Intolerable Acts consisted of four laws: the Boston Port Act; the Massachusetts Government Act; the Administration of Justice Act; and the Quartering Act, passed by British Parliament to American colonists, for their defiance in the Tea Party and response to the new taxation (Hamilton, 2013). One part of the Intolerable Acts was to close the Boston Harbor, until the East India Company received payment for the damage; loss of tea (Hamilton, 2013). This left colonists extremely angry, as they used the seaport to conduct business; importing and exporting goods. Following the close of the ports, “Boston residents were forced to house British soldiers in their home” and orders were sent to arrest colonists known to be involved in the Boston Tea Party: the Sons of Liberty (Hamilton, 2013, p. 23). Among the first of the arrest orders was

Samuel Adams, leader of the resistance group. However, Adams was never captured, thanks to a warning by Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride. After evading capture, Samuel Adams continued to fight for the American colonists and play a pivotal role in the American Revolution, as an advocate for independence. Adams had published several newspaper essays regarding his stance on America’s relationship with Great Britain. In 1776, the year of the construction of the Declaration of Independence, Adams felt the relationship with Great Britain needed to be separated, stating that “America’s limited dependence meant the colonies faced ‘an indefinite dependence upon an undetermined power’” (Maier, 1976, p. 22). Adams was a master politician and although an advocate for independence, he did not support violence (Maier, 1976). At the last meeting leading up to the Boston Tea Party, Adams felt that all peaceful measures had been taken and at that point exhausted. It was only then, that the destruction of property could be justified, and so began the Boston Tea Party, and the spark to the American Revolution (Maier, 1976). Unfortunately, the destruction and violence did not stop with the Boston Tea Party, but rather continued with the road to war. Samuel Adams, and other fellow Sons of Liberty members: Paul Revere; James Otis; and John Hancock, continued the fight for independence. Ultimately, these men knew that the colonies would not survive and thrive, living under British rule. With this realization, Samuel Adams had pushed for unity among the colonies, and the Continental Congress was born on September 5th, 1774. On this day, “the representatives of twelve colonies met in Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to form the first Continental Congress” (Hamilton, 2013, p. 23). Adams represented the Massachusetts delegates with his second cousin, John Adams, who would come to be the 2nd President of the United States. The representatives worked tirelessly to boycott British goods and attain a repeal, from

British Parliament, for the Intolerable Acts (Hamilton, 2013). The colonies were never given a formal reply from the King, and once again, felt that they had to resort to violence, as right before the Boston Tea Party. This resulted in the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord; the official start to the American Revolutionary War. Although the war officially started on April 19th, 1775, many people can argue that the fire started burning on December 16th, 1773; the Boston Tea Party. This event was the first violent act, from the colonies, as they were left outraged after the Townshend’s Revenue Acts. This was the beginning of the end; when the colonists would rebel with violence against British Parliament and seek their own independence. It was during these formative years, when Samuel Adams, showed his patriotism toward the American colonies. Thomas Jefferson even went on to call Adams, “truly the Man of the Revolution” (Maier, 1976, p. 13). In a way, Adams kicked off the beginning of the American Revolution with a political protest, where he and fellow colonists dumped British tea into the Boston Harbor. This is not an event to be overlooked, and neither is Samuel Adams. His involvement in the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution, served a great purpose. He was a leader, who helped carry men through this time of change, and later became known as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (Maier, 1976). He was one of Boston’s most prominent revolutionary leaders, and Americans continue to follow in his footsteps today, by pursuing happiness and continuing to fight for their dreams, and opportunities. Conclusion This historical event really hit close to home and is important to me personally, as I am from Boston, Massachusetts. I moved away for a short period, but soon found myself back here, as Boston will always feel the most like home. The city here is so full of life, exuberance, and

endless possibilities. When I first read the prompt for this Project, my first thought was the Boston Tea Party. I have always wanted to learn more about this significant event and how it impacted history. Upon initial research, I realized Samuel Adam’s involvement was usually overlooked, yet transformative, thus I chose to focus on his pivotal role. Thinking like a Historian allowed me to see how much the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party, and following, were important and necessary to discuss. The events leading up to the Boston Tea Party, are the reason three hundred and forty-two chests of tea were dumped into the Boston Harbor. The events or consequences that shortly followed, help paved the way for history, and ultimately led to future historical events in American History. I was able to dive deep into the mind of Samuel Adams and fellow colonists, to understand how they felt during these trying times and why they chose to act in the way they had. From trying to see this event through their lens and perspective, I fully understood the making of one of the most influential, and important documents in American History; the Declaration of Independence. A Historian would pursue a further study into this thesis statement, by looking more into Samuel Adam’s personal and political life. Understanding his relationship with his parents, educators, and other colonists, might give you a better understanding of his involvement in the Revolution; why he endlessly fought for independence. I know he went to Boston Latin and later Harvard, but I do not know much else about his studies. I think this might help gain a stronger point of view of Samuel Adams and his mark in American History.

References Drake, F. S. (1884, January 01). Tea leaves: Being a collection of letters and documents relating to the shipment of tea to the American colonies in the year 1773, by the East India Tea Company. Retrieved October 04, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/tealeavesbeingco00drakrich/page/n9/mode/2up

Hewes, G. (1835). An excerpt from Traits of the Tea Party, a memoir of George Hewes, a Tea Party participant, 1835. Digital Public Library of America. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-boston-tea-party/sources/1193

John Hamilton. (2013). American Revolution: The Road to War. ABDO & Daughters.

Maier, P. (1976). Coming to Terms with Samuel Adams. The American Historical Review, 81(1), 12. doi:10.2307/1863739...