Historical Perspective

Land of the Tea

Conservative blog with a dash of Tea Party common sense.

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At the conclusion of the French & Indian War, Britain found itself in need of funds. During the war, Britain’s American colonies had become more independent and resisted Britain’s attempts of taxation. The colonies argued they had no obligation to pay taxes at the behest of a Parliament in which they had no representation.

The Parliament attempted to find a way around the colonies’ stance by requiring a duty to be paid on tea, a staple of American life. Their idea was they would be able to lower the cost of tea that Americans were accustomed to paying even with the duty added in. This was to be accomplished by giving the East India Trading Company a monopoly on the importation of tea to America. The Americans were not fooled and did not allow the tea laden ships to port in multiple harbors. Three ships that did land in Boston’s harbor enraged the citizens who after some debate and negotiation stormed the ships dumping all the tea into the harbor.

Britain responded with a series of laws further encroaching on the liberties of Colonial Americans. Resistance from Americans increased until the American Revolutionary War was imminent. It is the encroachment on American liberties in more recent times from our central government that has led to the Tea Party protests that are in the same spirit as those protests in Boston so many years ago.