Previous
Beyond Boston: 9 tea parties you probably haven't heard about
Every schoolchild can tell you the story of the patriots dressed as Native Americans who sneaked aboard ships in Boston Harbor on Dec. 16, 1773, and tipped tea into the water (costing the East India Company more than a million dollars, incidentally) to protest tea taxes imposed by the British government. But how about the Wilmington tea party? You'd think one in New York would be famous, right? From Joseph Cummins' new book Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot, here are nine tea party protests you may not have heard about.
A monument to the tea burners in Greenwich, New Jersey
9. The Greenwich Tea Party
In December 1774, a ship called the Greyhound arrived in the New Jersey town with tea from the East India Company, and the captain, who had been forewarned of the mood of the country, secretly loaded the tea into a fellow sea captain's basement. Word got out, however, and colonists went to the house, got the tea, and burned it on the village green. The East India Company sued those suspected of destroying the tea, but the lawyers of the defendants kept delaying the trials until, finally, the American Revolution began and the British no longer had jurisdiction over the area.
These comments are not screened before publication. Constructive debate about the above story is welcome, but personal attacks are not. Please do not post comments that are commercial in nature or that violate any copyright[s]. Comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence will be removed. If you find a comment offensive, you may flag it.