Today is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

[annabanana]

December 16, 1773

The colonies refused to pay the levies required by the Townsend Acts claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a Parliament in which they had no representation. In response, Parliament retracted the taxes with the exception of a duty on tea - a demonstration of Parliament's ability and right to tax the colonies. In May of 1773 Parliament concocted a clever plan. They gave the struggling East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea to America. Additionally, Parliament reduced the duty the colonies would have to pay for the imported tea. The Americans would now get their tea at a cheaper price than ever before. However, if the colonies paid the duty tax on the imported tea they would be acknowledging Parliament's right to tax them. Tea was a staple of colonial life - it was assumed that the colonists would rather pay the tax than deny themselves the pleasure of a cup of tea.

The colonists were not fooled by Parliament's ploy. When the East India Company sent shipments of tea to Philadelphia and New York the ships were not allowed to land. In Charleston the tea-laden ships were permitted to dock but their cargo was consigned to a warehouse where it remained for three years until it was sold by patriots in order to help finance the revolution.

In Boston, the arrival of three tea ships ignited a furious reaction. The crisis came to a head on December 16, 1773 when as many as 7,000 agitated locals milled about the wharf where the ships were docked. A mass meeting at the Old South Meeting House that morning resolved that the tea ships should leave the harbor without payment of any duty. A committee was selected to take this message to the Customs House to force release of the ships out of the harbor. The Collector of Customs refused to allow the ships to leave without payment of the duty. Stalemate. The committee reported back to the mass meeting and a howl erupted from the meeting hall. It was now early evening and a group of about 200 men disguised as Indians assembled on a near-by hill. Whopping war chants, the crowd marched two-by-two to the wharf, descended upon the three ships and dumped their offending cargos of tea into the harbor waters.

Most colonists applauded the action while the reaction in London was swift and vehement. In March 1774 Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts which among other measures closed the Port of Boston. The fuse that led directly to the explosion of American independence was lit. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/teaparty.htm

[shadowknows69]

1. Thanks for the heads up anna

and I think that's about all I should post in this thread.


B-)

[glowing]

2. Could you imagine if we descended on the harbors now and refused

to allow the cheap, harmful Chineese crap ashore? We need to this as our tea party... then again, getting into the harbor requires I.D.'s and Homeland Security stands right there.. Would take a lot of us willing to actually die to do it.... Not that I have much faith in American's ever doing this. That would require getting up from the t.v.

[annabanana]

3. As soon as the authorities saw an angry crowd gathering...

they would unleash the spiffy new crowd control sound targeting weapons and explode painful noise inside our heads.

[glowing]

4. I forgot about that... Yeah.. they'd do that.

[jimshoes]

8. In the same way the criminals in the white house

had their rallying point in the 9-11 attack, the patriotic opposition (that's us) needs a rallying point to get the good folks off their behinds and away from the tube. Which outrage will be large enough to do it though? We've been de-sensitized to outrage over the past 7 years it seems and every new outrage is worse than the last yet it barely gets a rustle out of the tube bound. Missing nukes???.... hardly a notice. NIE comes out proving a war based on lies.... nothing. Torture tapes and their destruction ....nada. Spying on us .... hell, let's make it legal. Predatory lending and foreclosure rates going through the roof ... ZZZZZZZ. It's like americans are in a coma and nothing will rouse them. I am mystified.

[leaninglib]

5. It's interesting to note that a tax on tea less than 1% was considered "intolerable"

by our Founding Fathers. They were men of principle.

But nowadays, we are buried by taxes of 50% or more and we just take it. Present day Americans have become docile and we are obedient to our masters.

[spoony]

6. No, they were men of greed and self interest

[SharkSquid]

11. They nearly lost everything

They TRULY risked everything (you know that whole "Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honour") thing. Some went to jail, some had their property destroyed, some had their families harrassed and killed. Benjamin Franklin never spoke with his son again (a royal governor). I dont think too many people rebel from the largest empire in the world for simple greed.

[spoony]

12. Stock brokers risk everything too.

Doesn't mean the motive is pure.

Here is a fine, free read about the decidedly aristocratic, anti-democratic founders: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/authors/fresia/

[SharkSquid]

13. I dont need a lecture about that

I am familiar with their views. The point is that they gave us a legacy that they can use and they set us out along the right path, representative republic without mob rule.

[leaninglib]

14. There actions were also in the interest of their fellow countrymen.

Many refer to those of the WWII era as the greatest generation; however, our Founding Fathers were really the greatest generation of all time.

[annabanana]

9. "taxes of 50% or more " ?

jeez.. what bracket are you in?

Believe me, taxes are NOT our Country's biggest problem.

[leaninglib]

15. 28% federal, 12% Social Security, 3% Medicare, 6% state, 5% sales...

Plus real estate taxes, personal property taxes, gas taxes, phone taxes, cable taxes, utilities taxes and on and on and on...

I disagree; Americans need some relief from the enormous tax burden that is lowering their standard of living.

[SharkSquid]

10. Oh no, dont EVER say our income taxes are too high! You dirty Republican :) n/t

[leaninglib]

17. Yes, I suppose I could be mistaken as one on that issue.

But I think we both know that responsible Democrats understand the harm that high taxes cause. That is why many Dems have cut taxes at the state level. Those dirty Dems... :-)

[qwertyMike]

18. I say Old Chap

We Brits need our tea

[Summer93]

7. Thanks for the reminder

I'll not turn on the t.v. today.

[Kajsa]

16. Let's throw Diebold machines

into the harbor next time.


PS- Thanks for the reminder.

;-)

It's an important day in our history.

:hi:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Those guys were "too liberal".

[UTUSN]

20. Freemasons?!1 Or, so the History Channel tells us!1 n/t

[MzNov]

21. I was wondering why I was craving Celestial Seasonings

all day today!! :rofl: Thought I was coming down with the flu.

Those yankees knew how to party!

:party:

:toast: