Boston Tea Party

When a person listens to the words: Boston Tea Party, he/she imagines a very neat, elegant, nice room with clean tables fixed with comfty chairs, with trays of hot tea on them, cookies, biscuits, and bagels placed on a larger tray at the middle of the table and cheerful people celebrating a special occasion. The Boston Tea Party wasnt really anything like the described above.

Colonists were refusing to pay the taxes levied by the Townshend Acts, because as we discussed in our previous post, they didnt have any representation in Parliament and therefore they though Parliament had no right to levy them with taxes. Parliament decided to take all the taxes away-except for the one in tea-just as a demonstration that they did have the right to tax them. The colonists refused to pay those taxes, so they boycotted on the British tea and started smuggling on Dutch tea. When Parliament saw this, they gave the struggling East Indian Company, a monopoly of the importation of tea to America.These lowered the price of British tea, but the colonists rathered smuggling on the Dutch tea just to resist what they knew was just a strategy of Parliament.

This historic event, occured on a 16 of december, of the year 1773. Colonists had asked to officials that 3 ships loaded with taxed tea were sent back to Britain, but they refused. In responde, veiled with the coming of night, a group of men, "The Sons of Liberty" walked into the Boston Harbor. They were dressed as Mohawk indians, with even their face painted, to disguise their identity. They were divided in three groups, because their were three ships loaded with a valuable amount of tea. These ships were called: "The Beaver", the "Eleanor", and the "Dartmouth".

It is estimated that up to 130 men participated in the Boston Tea Party. These men mounted the three vessesl mentioned before, and dumped about 342 chests containing approximately 45 pounds of tea into the harbor. This is why it is sometimes called the "Largest Cup of Tea in America". Just imagine what color the water might have turned into, with pieces of tea floating everywhere. These act is symbolic to the United States history, because it wasnt only a furious act of rebellion; it was an aim to protect their constitutional rights. As excpected, authorities were enraged, and passed the Intolerable Acts, which basically ended self government in the colony of Massachussets and restricted the commerce in Boston.

Here is a link of the chronology of the events that lead to the Boston Tea Party and also the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party: http://www.american-presidents-history.com/boston-tea-party-timeline.html
This image represents what happened:

Boston Massacre

*Scroll until the very end for a video about the Boston Massacre.
It all started on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. A shot followed another, unbelievably in self-defense from what started as a snow ball attack.

Tensions between the colonists had thrived since King George III started levying taxes with the purpose of raising money. They needed this money because the French and Indian War had left England in debt, and the British coffers were dangerously low. Most people of England were commoners and they didnt have money to give to the government. One of the purposes of the taxes was paying the soldiers who were sent to protect the land, but eventually the soldier's presence began bothering the colonists. The pay of the soldiers was very scarse and they eventually began taking jobs away from the colonists because they needed more money.

On that evening of March 5, 1770, a British soldier, who was guarding near the Customs House was attacked by a crowd of colonists(apparently drunk)with snowballs and sticks, similar objects. The attack primarily started because of a discussion bewtween the soldier and a colonist. Other Bostonians who were backing up the colonists formed the crowd previously described. Runners called Captain Thomas Preston , the officer of the watch. He sent a few soldiers to help the other one control the furious mob. With every minute the situation became more and more stressful.

Reports indicate the angry mob tried to provoke the soldiers to fire, and soon enough one of them did so. This single shot was followed by many others. The scene is imaginable: Shots louder than thunders, whispering and tormenting the ears of all those who were present in the incident. When the firing stopped, 11 Bostonians were injured, and 3 were dead. Other two victims died few days later from the terminal wounds from the shots.
The colonists who were killed were:

1. Crispus Attucks
2. Samuel Gray
3. James Caldwell
4. Samuel Maverick
And
5. Patrick Carr

The governor of that time, Thomas Hutchinson, ordered that 8 of the soldiers involved in the massacre to be arrested. Trials needed to be done in order to determine the fate of the soldiers. James Forest, a merchant of Boston pleaded John Adams, a prominent lawyer of Massachussets to defend the colonists. He understood the trouble that this implied but even though decided to help, because he believed that everyone deserved a defense. He convinced the judges that the soldiers were only acting as one would excpect in such a confusing and life threatening incident. He accomplished that 6 of the soldiers be acquitted and the other 2 were reduced to a charge of manslaughter; and their thumbs were branded so everyone knew they had committed a crime.
So you understand a little bit better how this happened, look at this representation of the Boston Massacre:

Taxation Without Representation

           The basis of the American Revolution

 

March 1775,Stamp Act was going in November of that year and colonists were starting to claim for their liberty. These Act consisted in that every printed material, these including newspapers, magazines, books, and even land deeds; had to bear a Royal Stamp that represented the imposing of a tax on the purchase of these materials. They were being taxed in the colonies without being represented. They thought that if they didn't have in Parliament someone who represents them then they should not tax them.

To understand these it is important to ask the following question: Why did the British imposed new taxes in the colonies?The 7 Year War, A.K.A. The Seven Year War, had favored England with more land. These meant more land to protect from French, Indian, and other invadors and the need to send soilders fpr this purpose. England was bankrupt, it had no money,because the war doubled the debt. Besides people in Parliament believed that the colonists had to pay the taxes because they were the ones receiving the benefits from the revenues and money had been invested on during and before the war on the colonies. In other words, people in Parliament believed that the colonies owed them money.

Colonist felt mad because Parliament was making them pay taxes without a say, not really for the fact of paying taxes itself. They would pay them but since they had no representation, in their heads Parliament did not have the right to make them pay the taxes. People in Parliament did not understand the protest of the colonists, because most of the population of England were commoners who couldnt vote and had to pay taxes, and they did so without complaining. The colonists just wanted at least one representative of theits to be sent to Parliament, and Parliament just wanted to go on with what they were levying just as they were doing. These conflict eventually resulted in The American Revolution.

Before American Revolution

French and Indian War

This war was also known as the Seven Year War, because it lasted 7 years (1756 to 1763) . It was fought between the French allied with the Indians against the English. The war spread to the Indies (in Asia) and Africa where the English colonists has settlled colonies. On the years 1756 to 1757 the French had the upperhand and they had destroyed the British forts. But by the years 1758 to 1579 the upperhand shifted in favor of England, while the Indians abandoned the French leaving them more vulnerable. It is to be taken into consideration that the indian population had been drastically decreasing since the arrival of the Europeans into America, so with the war the indian population continued decreasing and these was one of the factors which contributed to disencourage the indians to fight with the French.

On 1759 the British took power over French colony of Quebec in Canada, and in 1760 the British did the same with Montreal. With all this conquests, the French were forced to surrender. This was when the Treaty of Paris of 1763 was written, which gave the British a vast territory of land in America. This land was obviously a giant treasure for the English, but it eventually brought much trouble. If these war hadnt been fought, then probably their wouldnt have been a United States of America today. This war was practically the one which started the chain of events that would lead to the increase of England´s debt, levying of taxes, Taxation Without Representation, Boston Tea Party, and much more events that started the American Revolution.

British Government is a Model

For long the colonists had been mostly independent from the Parliament in England. Even so, when they settled the colonies the British form of government was a model for their settlements. Two powers predominated, which were the executive and the legislative. Most colonies, except Pennsylvania had two houses of legislation. These were the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Most colonies also had an elected assembly and a council of prominent citizens. This went on for much time, until the Parliament began paying attention to the colonies and believe that they virtually represented every British person (so the colonists were included) so they wanted colonists to obey British laws.
That was when the problem started. Parliament wanted to impose taxes, and the colonists didnt elect or vote for any members of the British Parliament.

About the Site :)

Welcome Revolutionizers!
*This is a US History class assesment
Are you curious about the sequence of events that lead to the American Revolution? Or seeking for information about this global impacting rebellion? Then you're justly in the right site! Every week, specially Fridays new information about the American Revolution will be updated to the blog. Every history student should know at least a bit about this revolution that ended in the development of the country of United States. Stick to us and scroll, discover & learn.
Thanks!

Any suggestions for improvement or other comments will be appreciated!
Owed by: Angie, Fabyana, Monica




                               
                                    Angie

Monica

                             Fabyana