The Boston Tea Party

about was justice and liberty for the colonists in America. Adams was tireless in his fight for freedom. When he wasn’t leading protest marches or holding meetings at the local tavern, he was writing letters to newspapers like the Boston-Gazette and Country Journal to express his opinions on freedom and the British government. His writings also appeared in broadsides, large sheets of paper that were tacked to walls, posts, and trees. Adams’s writings and speeches were so persuasive that he was known in Britain as “the most dangerous man in Massachusetts.” The British disliked Adams for his ability to convince colonists that independence from English rule was best for their future. They feared—and respected—the way Adams’s fiery speeches inspired the colonists to take action.

Samuel Adams

Addressing his fellow Sons of Liberty at the Green Dragon Tavern, Adams whipped the men into a frenzy with his account of the British Parliament’s latest attack on liberty: the Townshend Acts. Named for Charles Townshend, the British official who introduced the new measures to Parliament, the acts called for new taxes on British goods entering the colonies. This time, colonists would have to pay extra money on products like glass, paint, and tea.

The men left the tavern that night wanting more than ever to fight for their freedom. They no longer wanted to be under British control. Meanwhile, Britain sent more troops to the colonies to suppress the protests and ensure that its inspectors and agents could collect the new taxes.

Tensions between the two groups quickly grew. Throughout the colonies, Patriots continued to boycott British products. Many also continued their violent behavior.

In the spring of 1768, a mob rioted when John Hancock’s ship was seized by a tax collector. Hancock, one of the Sons of Liberty and a well-known smuggler of wine, had docked his ship (called—what else?—Liberty) in Boston Harbor. The chief customs agent, Joseph Harrison, suspected Hancock had broken the law and wanted to inspect his ship. So he enlisted the help of two British warships that were in the harbor. While British sailors tied the Liberty to one of their ships, angry Boston residents gathered on the docks to protest. Later, a mob vandalized the home of one of the customs officers and even burned one of their boats!

John Hancock

Back in England, King George was growing more and more frustrated with the actions of his “rebellious child.” In 1768, he decided to send a message by dispatching four thousand troops to Boston, a city with fewer than seventeen thousand residents. The presence of so many Redcoats, as the troops were known because of their bright red uniforms, angered the people of Boston.

King George III, circa 1768

By 1770, fights between Patriots and Loyalists were becoming more common. Teenagers would taunt the British soldiers, calling them names and pelting them with rocks, oyster shells, rotten eggs, or whatever they could get their hands on. On the afternoon of March 5, 1770, one of these skirmishes broke out between a group of boys and some British soldiers.

One of the boys shouted an insult at the British soldiers. Another boy packed a snowball and hurled it at the officer. None of the boys were armed, but the soldiers were probably on edge because a few days earlier, a mob of angry Bostonians had beaten up a group of off-duty British soldiers.

As more Patriots joined the crowd, the scene became increasingly tense. Another round of snowballs was thrown at the soldiers. Despite repeated warnings from the troops, the crowd refused to break up.

Then, all of a sudden, someone shouted, “Fire!” A nervous soldier fired his gun, thinking that the order came from his captain. Other soldiers did the same, filling the air with gun smoke. When the smoke cleared, three colonists were dead and many more were injured.

Five Patriots died that day. The first person killed was Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave who had started a new life in Boston as a sailor. He is considered the first casualty of the American Revolution. More than twelve thousand people came to the funerals of Attucks and his fellow victims.

Crispus Attucks

As tragic as the event was, Samuel Adams saw in it the opportunity to stir up more resentment toward the British. He began referring to the incident as the Boston Massacre. He later wrote, “The country shall be independent and we will be satisfied with nothing short of it.”

One of Adams’s friends was Paul Revere, who was well-known as a talented silversmith. He had learned the art from his father, who died when Paul was nineteen. Revere was also an excellent horseman—a talent that would come in handy during the later battles between the British and the colonists. But his first involvement with the Patriots came through his work as a copperplate engraver. In addition to the business cards and store signs that Revere engraved, he created political cartoons etched into and printed from sheets of copper.

After the Boston Massacre, Revere made a cartoon of the event, showing British troops opening fire on a group of innocent colonists. It wasn’t a totally accurate depiction of the event, but it succeeded in making the Patriots even angrier toward the British.

King George, however, was not about to give in to all the anger and protests. If anything, he was prepared to hit back even harder.

Although coffee would eventually become America’s favorite hot beverage, the people of the thirteen colonies were all about their tea. They loved sipping the hot water steeped in the carefully cured leaves, which were grown in China and shipped to America from England and other parts of Europe.

Some colonists believed that tea had the power to help the sick get better, while others simply liked the taste. But they all drank it daily, and often a few times a day. The wealthy served it in beautiful tea sets made of china. Afternoon tea was