The Origin of Tea Parties
by Don Adams
 
 
America’s school children learn a simple tale of a civilian protest that occurred in Boston on December 16, 1773.  Local men dressed as Indians, using the cover of night, boarded three merchant ships and dumped the contents, British tea, into the Boston Harbor.  
 
What is not taught, however, is that the prelude to the Boston Tea Party is rooted deeply in Philadelphia history. 

On October 16, 1773, colonists gathered at the Old State House (now Independence Hall) and passed a series of resolutions condemning “the duty imposed by Parliament upon tea landed in America…”   The resolutions went further, calling the duty a tax and “a violent attack upon the liberties” of the colonists.
 
Three weeks later, at a Faneuil Hall town meeting, Bostonians adopted the same resolutions passed by their “worthy brethren, the citizens of Philadelphia.”

In a little over one month’s time, the infamous Boston Tea Party was underway.
 
What appears to have been completely lost upon successive generations of American school children is the story of the Philadelphia Tea Party. 

On December 27, 1773, a record-breaking, peaceful throng of 8,000 Philadelphians met in the State House Yard to settle the matter of an intercepted British ship called the Polly.  The Polly carried a shipment of British tea destined for the kettles of Philadelphia.
 
Philadelphians, however, had another idea--and resolved that “the tea…shall not be landed.”  Unlike their Boston counterparts, they decided to send the tea (uncorrupted) up the Delaware River on a return trip to its rightful owners, the East India Company of England.
 
Although the colonists participating in the Boston and Philadelphia Tea Parties employed different tactics, they ultimately demonstrated a united opposition to their national government.
 
The rebellious colonists of 1773 are the inspiration behind the present day Tea Party Movement.  They would not become the tools of government and, of course, neither should we.  When threatened, and pushed to limit, we should follow their example and publicly demonstrate our protestations. 
 
Today, we face the daunting task of preserving the will and spirit of our founding fathers and mothers.  Massive federal bailouts, pork barrel spending, and redistribution schemes, totaling trillions of dollars, are threatening to rob hard-working taxpayers and future generations of any chance at the American dream. 
 
The current Tea Party Movement is sending a message to another overbearing national government, one that sits on this side of Atlantic (far too close for comfort), that we will not comply.  For the sake nation, we are asking you to join us in a campaign to limit the reach of this unrelenting force in our daily lives. 

(An earlier version of this article first appeared in the Bulletin on April 16, 2009. Reprinted with permission from the author.)