Often, when I hesitate to read something because "I already know all about that" -- nothing could be further from the truth. Hourly History sets up their tale by explaining the issues that precipitated the dumping of 92,000 pounds of tea in Boston Harbor. They did not touch any other goods on the ships, nor harm any of the seamen on board. They dressed as Mohawk Indians (who later fought on the side of the British against the Americans in the Revolutionary War) and even swept the decks after they finished. One padlock and the tea were the only damages.
The harbor smelled of tea for weeks. The Sons of Liberty would go out in boats to smack down the tea, so it could not be salvaged -- and it stayed worthless. This book highlighted some of the more prominent people in the early days of the unrest in America. Samuel Adams was a Puritan. Paul Revere was also a Puritan (by birth) but converted to the Church of England.
One fascinating tidbit about this story is that each of the 30 to 130 men who participated in the Boston Tea Party expected to be caught and tried for criminal and civil charges. So, no one talked about it after the fact. In March 1774, as Second Boston Tea Party took place, dumping another 30 chests of tea. This encouraged tea dumps in Maryland, New York, and South Carolina. The Boston Tea Party led directly to Americans drinking coffee instead of tea for breakfast (something that continues to this day).
Most of the leaders of the Boston Tea Party did not participate in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution. They thought that their hands were dirty from causing civil unrest and that the elites would not support a movement that was led through mob violence or civil disobedience. Then this book took an interesting turn by discussing how the Boston Tea Party became the watchword for other fights for liberation (Gandhi was one example).
The harbor smelled of tea for weeks. The Sons of Liberty would go out in boats to smack down the tea, so it could not be salvaged -- and it stayed worthless. This book highlighted some of the more prominent people in the early days of the unrest in America. Samuel Adams was a Puritan. Paul Revere was also a Puritan (by birth) but converted to the Church of England.
One fascinating tidbit about this story is that each of the 30 to 130 men who participated in the Boston Tea Party expected to be caught and tried for criminal and civil charges. So, no one talked about it after the fact. In March 1774, as Second Boston Tea Party took place, dumping another 30 chests of tea. This encouraged tea dumps in Maryland, New York, and South Carolina. The Boston Tea Party led directly to Americans drinking coffee instead of tea for breakfast (something that continues to this day).
Most of the leaders of the Boston Tea Party did not participate in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution. They thought that their hands were dirty from causing civil unrest and that the elites would not support a movement that was led through mob violence or civil disobedience. Then this book took an interesting turn by discussing how the Boston Tea Party became the watchword for other fights for liberation (Gandhi was one example).
