A Powerful Protest - The Boston Tea Party

On Thursday morning, December 16, 1773, a large crowd of several thousand people gathered at Boston's Old South Meeting House. The Sons of Liberty were in attendance. They sent one of the Dartmouth's owners, Francis Rotch, to meet with Governor Hutchinson at his country home in Milton, seven miles away. He would ask the Royal Governor one final time for permission to take his ship and its cargo of tea back to England. The meeting adjourned until 3 p.m. to give Rotch sufficient time to meet with Hutchinson. When the meeting continued, speeches were made for two hours as the crowd awaited Rotch's return. The crowd grew restless and the meeting was extended. Darkness neared when Francis Rotch finally arrived. He told them that Hutchinson had denied his request to take the Dartmouth back to England. The time had come for the Sons of Liberty to act!

Click on picture for larger image

Samuel Adams stood up and said "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." It was the pre-arranged signal. A war cry went up from outside and several Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians, their faces blackened, entered and stirred the crowd. Over 100 patriots, dressed in similar fashion, marched to Griffin's Wharf, boarded the three British ships, and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. A large crowd looked on. The participants were surprised that they were not confronted by British soldiers. Their task was completed by 9 p.m. and they marched off in an orderly fashion. A loyalist voice was heard to say that they "would have to pay the fiddler yet!" Only time would tell how Britain would react to their powerful protest.

In March of 1774, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. Colonists called them the Intolerable Acts. The first of these Acts, the Boston Port Bill closed Boston Harbor to commercial shipping. Military ships and transports were the only vessels Bostonians would see. General Thomas Gage soon replaced Thomas Hutchinson as Royal Governor. He was also the commander of all British military forces in the colonies. Soon, four more regiments of soldiers arrived in Boston. Massachusetts was now under military rule. In June, the Quartering Act required that the colonists provide housing for British troops in both occupied and unoccupied buildings.

The Sons of Liberty continued to meet and two of their leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock attended the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The fifty-six delegates in attendance, from all of the colonies (except Georgia), said that the Intolerable Acts should not be obeyed. They discussed the right of the colonists to liberty and self-rule. They promoted the formation of local militias. In February of 1775, a Provincial Congress was held in Massachusetts. Those attending reacted to the war-like environment by voting to take proper measures for defense. Parliament soon declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. In April, King George told the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, to suppress this rebellion by force if necessary.

This is where the story One April in Boston begins.

The following were sources of reference for the above text:

Back One