Boston Tea Party Script

! The Boston Tea Party. You might have have heard of it. Though you might think, based on its name, it was NOT a big fun party with tea. The Boston Tea Party was actually one of the events that helped fuel the American revolution. So, what happened? ! Well, lets set the scene. 1773, Boston, Massachusetts. King George was in rule over England, whose territory at that time included the 13 colonies in America. So, who was involved with this event and helped start the revolution? None other than the Sons of Liberty, headed by Samuel Adams, a large group of male patriots who met in secret and planned acts of rebellion to keep King Georges rule over the colonies in check. This piece of paper is a note sent out to all Sons of Liberty, stating the resignation of Andrew Oliver. Andrew Oliver was a public ofcial who was supposed to implement the stamp act, which just put high taxes on stamps. But, Andrew Oliver was forced to resign because the colonists opposed the new taxes he was trying to implement so much. what did the Sons of Liberty do that inuenced the revolution? ! About 116 members of the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and snuck onto ships that were shipping tea to Boston and dumped 342 chest of tea (92,000 pounds) into the sea. Many people were never identied and kept the secret that they had helped all the way to their grave. Now, why would they do this? Dumping a bunch tea into the ocean must have a reason, right? ! Well, there was a reason. The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773. This act or law gave the British East India Tea Company monopoly on tea sales in American colonies. This meant that the American colonies were only allowed to buy tea from the British East India Tea Company. This also included higher taxes on the tea. This is a poster from the time that is advertising The East India Tea Company. It shows that tea must have been popular at that time, since it states that they have agents in every town or village. it also must have been popular because they sold it in black tea, green tea, and mixed tea. The Tea Act made the colonists mad at King George. Really mad. ! The Sons of Liberty had their reasons to do what they did. But did they get punished? Yes. The Parliament had gotten fed up. They could handle rebellion to a point, but this pushed it off the edge. So they passed the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. ! The Coercive Acts included these 5 laws: The Boston Port Bill, which closed the Boston Harbor to everything but British ships, The Quartering Act, which meant that all colonist were forced to accommodate British Soldiers if they needed it, or else they were shot, The Administration of Justice Act, which said

that no British ofcials could be tried(judged in court) for a crime in the colonies, The Massachusetts Government Act, which ended self-government in Boston, and The Quebec Act which extended the Canadian borders and cut off the western colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia. ! Now you know what happened. Why they did what they did. The consequences. But how did this event spark a revolution? Well, according to Professor Benjamin Carp, it wasnt the Boston Tea Party that got the colonist mad about King Georges rule. He states that Instead, it was actually the way that Parliament decided to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party--the Coercive Acts of 1774-that angered Americans and led them to meet at the First Continental Congress (and take other actions against the British government). Some time after this meeting the British soldiers that had come in to enforce the high taxes that came along with the Tea Act started arresting patriots and killing people who tried to protect them. So, in 1775, the Second Continental Continental met in Philadelphia. They met and discussed important of that time issues, one of which was the military. The way they responded was by forming the Continental Army, headed by George Washington. Another reason they needed the Continental Army was because of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which was the actual start of the revolutionary war. The war had been raging for a year when we nally signed the Declaration of Independence which declared us free from Britain. Six years later, the war ended and we were free once and for all! Now you know the history of how your country came to be, all from some patriots who decided enough was enough. Now that you know, share your knowledge! Lots of Americans dont know the story of their country, so why dont you tell them? Tell them that the rebellion of The Boston Tea Party was the beginning of America.