Tea parties were all the rage in 1773 & 1774

When the American Revolutionary War is the topic of discussion, one of the significant events people think of is the Boston Tea Party. Though an important event leading up to the American Revolution, this was not the only time the colonists would express their frustrations toward the British by throwing a tea party.

In 1773, Parliament was highly concerned about the financial health of the East India Tea Company and sought to do what it could to save the business from facing bankruptcy. In an effort to accomplish this task, the Tea Act became law on April 27, 1773. This law placed a duty-free status on goods shipped to the colonies by the East India Tea Company (EITC). Half a million pounds of tea was shipped to the colonies with a tax of only three pence per pound imposed. The lack of duty attached to the goods permitted EITC to undercut the colonial merchants’ prices and still realize a profit on their sales. As a result, the price charged for EITC products was much lower than Dutch tea which was smuggled in. Needless to say, the colonial merchants were quite upset with the law and sought retaliation in an effort to survive. Soon numerous ports refused to offload tea chests shipped from England and they were sent back.

On November 27, 1773, three Tea Act ships sailed into Boston Harbor – the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver. A fourth ship, the William, also sailed, but encountered a storm at sea and was destroyed. When the ships docked, they were greeted by members of the Sons of Liberty , led by Samual Adams and were not allowed to unload. The ships agreed to leave with their cargo still aboard; however Thomas Hutchinson, the Royal Governor, would not authorize them to do so. Determined to uphold the British law, Hutchinson imposed a 20-day waiting period.

December 16 was the end of the Dartmouth’s 20-day waiting period. Expecting the ship to leave Boston Harbor the following day, approximately 7,000 colonists gathered at the Old South Meeting House. During the meeting, the colonists learned Governor Hutchinson stood fast on his refusal to allow the ships to depart. Thus, Samuel Adams announced, “This meeting can do nothing further to save the country.” His statement was a coded message to certain individuals announcing it was time for the ‘tea party’ to begin.

Several thousand colonists cheered on sixty men disguised as Mohawk Indians when they boarded the three ships and destroyed 342 chests of tea which were dumped into Boston Harbor. The tea was valued at approximately £90,000.

The following morning, a large quantity of the damaged tea chests bobbed in Boston Harbor. Concerned a portion of their contents might still be salvaged and sold; a number of patriots manned rowboats and held the floating chests underwater until they sank, ensuring complete destruction of the entire quantity of chests tossed into the harbor the night before.

Not willing to allow an opportunity for merriment to pass them by, the following year other colonies decided to host their own tea parties in the wake of Boston’s celebration.

New York played hot to its party on April 22, 1774. On this day, a consignment of tea arrived on the ship ‘London’. After the ship docked in New York Harbor , she was boarded by a group of citizens with questions for her captain, James Chambers. When he denied the ship’s cargo included tea, the skeptical patriots threatened to open every crate on the vessel to verify the truth of his statement. Realizing the seriousness of the threat, Captain Chambers confessed to the presence of 18 chests of tea among the cargo.

The news of the tea’s presence reached the local chapter of the Sons of Liberty, who in like manner to their brothers in Boston, began to decorate themselves as Mohawk Indians. However, they arrived too late.  The crowd on the dock boarded the ship at 8:00 p.m. and held the party without them. The mob filled the gangplank of the London and poured across her deck. Climbing into the hold, they found the tea chests, which they hoisted top-side, ripped open and dumped into the Hudson. Thus concluded tea party #2.

Annapolis, Maryland was the setting for tea party #3. October 19, 1774, the ship Peggy Stewart, owned by merchants Anthony Stewart and James Dick, arrived in Annapolis Harbor carrying 2,320 pounds of boycotted tea intended for T. C. Williams & Company. Stewart, Dick and Williams each had a history of challenging boycotts and their behavior left a bad taste in the mouths of the patriots. Though some felt a tea party along the lines of Boston fame should be held on the deck of the Peggy Stewart, more radical patriots had a different ‘celebration’ in mind. They informed Anthony Stewart he would be the guest of honor at a tar and feathering unless the ship was destroyed. Thus the Peggy Stewart was run aground and set on fire by her captain. Patriots cheered as the ship burned and then sank. Though not quite the party of the two previous events, the results still proved worthy of celebrating.

The tea party which followed took place in Edenton, North Carolina and had no need for lemon to incorporate a special twist. This tea party was a ladies-only event. Penelope Barker, wife of Thomas Barker, the treasurer of the Province of North Carolina, invited a large number of her friends over on October 25, 1774. During the gathering, the ladies agreed to stop drinking tea and buying English clothes. In addition, they signed a petition which shocked both loyal colonists and the British. This was a true political first because before the 1770s, women never signed petitions. Thus, the women who gathered in Penelope Barker's home that day were made aware of the important part they played in the creation of a virtuous republic.

Two elements were involved in the party hosted by the genteel patriots of Charleston, South Carolina. As tea shipments arrived in Charleston, they went unclaimed and were then seized. Rather than dumping the cargo into the harbor however, the chests were stored in the cellar of the Old Exchange Building. Over time, an accumulation of several hundred chests was amassed in the cellar.

On November 3, the British ship Britannia, arrived in Charleston Harbor. Among the passengers on board were two Royal appointees and seven chests of tea consigned to three local merchants. Given the rising tempers of the area patriots, the three merchants decided it best they decline the delivery.  They boarded the Britannia and personally dumped the contents of the seven chests into the Cooper River. In 1776, the tea which was still being stored in the Old Exchange Building was sold to benefit the state of South Carolina. Thus, unlike the other colonies, South Carolina was able to have her tea and dump it too!

On December 22, 1774, all eyes were on Greenwich, New Jersey as they played host to the year’s final known tea party. Located forty miles from Philadelphia, PA, Greenwich was and is the principal settlement of Cumberland County, NJ. Running through the county is Cohansey Creek, a navigable stream of sufficient size which empties into Delaware Bay.

In the autumn of 1774, residents of this quiet community were surprised to see the Greyhound, a British brig, sail up the Cohansey and dock in Greenwich.  The Greyhound’s crew felt no concern over the East India Tea Company cargo they carried, due to the English sympathizer (referred to as a ‘Tory’) Daniel Bowen. One would think Daniel would have misgivings with this due to the previous events, but alas, he allowed the Greyhound to store its contraband in the cellar of his home.

Word got out about the stored tea and 35 representatives from around the area met to plan their strategy. With knowledge of Boston’s success, they felt fate had dealt them a winning hand to enact their own event. On the evening of Thursday, December 22, 1774, forty young Whigs, again disguised as Indians, entered Bowen’s cellar, confiscated the tea chests and carried them into an adjoining field. After piling them together, the chests were set on fire, proving to one and all the fact water was not a necessary ingredient for hosting a tea party.