(From time to time we post guest blogs. Richard Freeman is a local historian who is one of our guest writers. He portrays Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary, John Hay, in private and public performances and writes on historical topics of current interest. We always invite your comments on anything we publish on our website and hope to add other essays by historians and interested individuals as time and space allow.)  ~ BP

The Boston Tea Party 1773 and Tea Parties 2009

Are there similarities between the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and the current tea parties across the nation?  You bet there are.

In 1773 the colonists were – in their view – being taxed beyond reason.  More than that they believed they were being taxed without representation.  The Colonial Charters gave the taxing powers to the colonial legislatures alone, and thus the system worked till after the French and Indian War.  The Parliament was permitted to pass laws that applied to the colonies, but in the realm of taxation – the colonists believed only they themselves had the right.  The tea monopoly created by the English Parliament was the last straw.  It is true, the tea (a staple of colonial life) would be cheaper, but in paying the new tax,  they would be admitting that the crown had the right to tax the colonies.  This all came to a head on December 16, 1773 when a gathering of some 6,000 Massachusetts citizens at Boston Harbor decided that the ships laden with the tea brought there by East India Company should leave the harbor without unloading the tea.  The colonists would not buy that tea and pay the tax that went with it.

The tea merchants decided to unload, regardless of protests. The famous Boston Tea Party took place shortly thereafter.  A group of men disguised as Indians went aboard the ships and threw the tea in the harbor. As a side note, interestingly, many of the men who threw the tea in the harbor belonged to the Masonic order in Boston, gathering with other patriotic citizens to resist tyranny. Following that act, a series of oppressive measures known collectively in America as “The Intolerable Acts,” passed by the British Parliament inevitably pushed the colonies to open revolt.

It is best to remember that when the colonies openly revolted in 1774 that it was a minority of citizens that initiated resistance, ending in independence nine years later.  In the beginning, only about a third of the inhabitants supported the revolution.  Indeed many residents of the colonies – remained loyal to the crown and some fled to Canada. They were known as British Empire Loyalists and were the core founders of what is now the Province of Ontario. I have personally visited some of the cemeteries that hold the remains of these British Empire Loyalists. Those colonists that stayed and fought for independence were truly the first American grass roots movement.  It was at its core a grass roots movement and revolt against a repressive central government imposing taxes, based in London, England.

In 1775 did those who were revolting against the official power really know where it would all end?  Most hoped for independence, but they did not really know how it would all come out.  They were totally committed, nonetheless.

Today the tea parties you see taking place across this country are clearly a grass roots movement by people of Republican , conservative Democrats and Independents against what they perceive as a repressive central government that spends enormous amounts of money, that  will result in higher taxes or hyper-inflation. Over 48% of the voters in November of 2008 voted for the losing candidate, but today they are being totally ignored.  In fact, they are being told by the president to sit down and shut up.  One can readily speculate that that given the first 7 months of this administration the percentage who would vote against them is well over 50%, making this administration a minority government.  Still they press on – piling up debt that is hard to get one’s mind around.  Inflation – which is a huge tax – is bound to follow, along with tax increases on anyone making a living.  The public is beginning to see through this.  The appointment of czars – with no vetting at all – reporting to the president and no one else – is a chilling development.  Hence, the tea parties are not only continuing, but they are achieving serious political legs and are challenging elected representatives in their town hall meetings.  This has resulted in a number of members of congress curtailing town hall meetings for conference calls to avoid meeting the electorate face to face.  The risk here is that this will add a great deal of fuel to the fire.

There is a broad and deep-seated anger in this country at where we are being led, while being ignored.  Some of that anger is showing up in the town hall meetings and the response by the administration to those who would call into question their policies – is not helping at all. The tea party grass roots movement is protesting the extent of the powers of the presidency and the congress.  There has been a lot of talk about states rights again.  There is widespread concern about the take over of the banks, of the auto industry and now the health industry.  The fear of this kind of an all powerful central government is turning to more and more anger.

Where will this all lead?  Elections in 2010 will show some serious trends against this administration.  We are 15 months away from those elections and so much can happen between now and then.  The potential for more confrontations is clearly there and almost guaranteed.  How both sides conduct themselves will be the key to either learning to listen more and return to representative government or far wider civil disobedience.

Remember only about one third of the residents of the colonies took the lead in revolting.  The current tea parties represent perhaps that many or more.  This could get a lot worse before it is resolved.  And where this nation and its form of government is going to be changed a great deal for either the good or the bad.  For now this is in the hands of the people.  If the administration will listen – which they have not been doing lately – and return to being guided by the Constitution as well as a return to government of the people, by the people and for the people . . . we can probably find common ground.

Does the grass roots movement of 2009 know where this will all end?  Probably not, but most participants express a fervent desire for a return to our constitution as our legislative guide as well as a return to government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard G. Freeman