On this day 250 years ago the Association of the Sons of Liberty of New York published Resolves that declared “That whoever shall be aiding, or assisting, in the landing, or carting of [East India Company] tea, from any ship, or vessel, or shall hire any house, store-house, or cellar or any place whatsoever, to deposit the tea, . . . he shall be deemed an enemy to the liberties of America.”
Source: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/resolves-of-the-new-york-sons-of-liberty/
On this day 250 years ago thousands of Patriots from Boston and towns across Massachusetts gathered at the Old South Meeting House to discuss how to prevent British East India Company tea from being unloaded from the ships in Boston Harbor. Samuel Phillips Savage of Weston, Massachusetts, was chosen as the moderator of the meeting.
On this day 250 years ago, The Boston Gazette printed a letter from Patriots in Philadelphia dated December 4 that challenged Bostonians to prevent the importation of East India Company tea: “Our Tea Consignees have all resign’d, and you need not fear; the Tea will not be landed here or at New-York. All that we fear is, that you will shrink at Boston. You have fail’d us in the Importation of Tea from London since the Non-importation Agreement, and we fear you will suffer this to be landed. . . . May God give you Virtue enough to save the Liberties of your Country.”
Source: https://www.masshist.org/2012/juniper/assets/ed-curricula/blackington_bostontea_party_documents.pdf
On this day 250 years ago, according to some sources, “the citizens of Lexington ‘had unanimously resolved against the use of Bohea tea of all sorts, Dutch or English importation,’ gathered all the tea they could in town and burned it in public.” Other sources say the bonfire occurred on December 13. Perhaps they started the fire on the night of December 12 and it was still burning on the morning of December 13.
Source: https://www.revolution250.org/250th-commemorations/250th-anniversary-of-the-boston-tea-party/
On this day 250 years ago, Samuel Adams and the Boston Committee of Correspondence issued an order to Francis Rotch, the owner of the Dartmouth and Beaver, to set sail for London without unloading the East India Company tea onboard the ships. Francis Rotch apparently wanted to comply, but Royal Governor Hutchinson refused to allow him to depart.
On this day 250 years ago the Citizens of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts adopt a resolution pledging not to drink “tea of all sorts” and further that “We shall be ready to Sacrifice our Estates and everything dear in Life, Yea and Life itself, in support of the common Cause.” Three days later the people of Lexington burned a large stock of tea in the town square. Lexington’s role in Revolutionary history as the site of the first tea party would be eclipsed a year and a half later by the events on Lexington Commons that proved the Patriots of that Town honored their pledge.
Source: Mary Beth Norton, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution at28; https://historicalnerdery01.blogspot.com/2023/12/they-brought-together-every-ounce.html
Today, December 10, 2023, the Citizens of Lexington are reenacting these events.
On this day 250 years ago, the New York Journal published “A Constitutional Catechism” by an anonymous writer. The article explained that the tax on tea “imposed without our own consent . . . is . . . unconstitutional, cruel, and unjust.” It further argued that to block the tea, the people can invoke “the perpetual and universal binding law of self-defense . . . when their rights and privileges cannot be secured by the laws of their country.” The “Constitutional Catechism” provided the legal arguments for Patriots to take violent actions to defend their rights.
Source: Norton, Mary Beth, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution at pp. 20-21.
On this day 250 years ago, Royal Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts is determined to force rebellious Bostonians to accept the East India Company tea shipped from England. He orders vessels posted at the entrance to Boston harbor to prevent the tea ships from leaving without permission.
Source: https://www.revolution250.org/250th-commemorations/250th-anniversary-of-the-boston-tea-party/
On this day 250 years ago, the ship Beaver, arrives in Boston harbor with more chests of East India Company tea, plus a case of smallpox, onboard. The ship is quarantined at Rainsford Island.
Source: https://www.revolution250.org/250th-commemorations/250th-anniversary-of-the-boston-tea-party/
On this day 250 years ago, an anonymous article from a Patriot in New York was sent to Boston for publication in the Massachusetts Gazette. The article published a broadside written by “The Mohawks” in New York threatening anyone assisting in the import of East India Company tea with “an unwelcome visit, in which they shall be treated as they deserve.”
Source: https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=423&mode=large&img_step=1&&pid=2&br=1
On This Day In The Revolution 