# Canonical recap data for Boston Tea Party (1773)
# Source: https://recap.at/1773/boston-tea-party
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: boston-tea-party
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1773/boston-tea-party"
title: Boston Tea Party
aliases:
- Tea Party
- Boston Tea Party of 1773
- Destruction of the tea
subtitle: American colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor, escalating tensions toward revolution.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1773-12-16
datePrecision: day
year: 1773
decade: 1770
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: The Boston Tea Party was an act of protest on December 16, 1773 during the American Revolution. Initiated by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, one of the Thirteen Colonies of British America, it escalated hostilities between Great Britain and the Patriots, who opposed British policy towards i
summaryLong: The Boston Tea Party was an act of protest on December 16, 1773 during the American Revolution. Initiated by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, one of the Thirteen Colonies of British America, it escalated hostilities between Great Britain and the Patriots, who opposed British policy towards its American colonies. Less than two years later, on April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, also in Massachusetts, launched the eight-year American Revolutionary War, which resulted in the independence of the colonies as the United States.
lede: On December 16, 1773, American colonists boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water to protest British taxation without representation. The act destroyed roughly 92,000 pounds of tea and crystallized colonial resistance into open defiance. Britain's punitive response pushed the colonies toward revolution.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Boston_Tea_Party_w.jpg/1280px-Boston_Tea_Party_w.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Boston Tea Party"
importance: 87
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: December 16, 1773
- label: Location
  value: Boston Harbor, Massachusetts
- label: Tea destroyed
  value: 342 chests (approximately 92,000 pounds)
- label: Estimated value
  value: £9,000 (approximately $1.7 million in 2024 dollars)
- label: Ships targeted
  value: Dartmouth, Eleanor, Beaver
- label: Estimated participants
  value: Between 5,000-7,000 colonists
- label: Organization
  value: Sons of Liberty (informal coordination)
- label: Tax being protested
  value: Tea Act of 1773
timeline:
- date: 1773-05-10
  title: Tea Act passed
  description: Parliament passes the Tea Act, granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies and maintaining the existing tea tax.
- date: 1773-11-28
  title: First ship arrives
  description: The Dartmouth arrives in Boston Harbor with a cargo of tea, setting off weeks of public protest and political maneuvering.
- date: 1773-12-16
  title: Tea dumped into harbor
  description: Colonists, many disguised as Mohawk Indians, board the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver and dump 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor over the course of three hours.
- date: 1774-01-25
  title: Massachusetts receives punishment
  description: News of Britain's punitive response—the Boston Port Act closing the harbor until tea is paid for—reaches Massachusetts, radicalizing moderate colonists.
- date: 1774-09-05
  title: First Continental Congress convenes
  description: Colonial delegates from twelve colonies meet in Philadelphia, with the Boston Tea Party serving as a rallying point for unified resistance.
- date: 1775-04-19
  title: Battles of Lexington and Concord
  description: Armed conflict erupts in Massachusetts, making the colonial rebellion military reality rather than symbolic protest.
- date: 1776-07-04
  title: Declaration of Independence adopted
  description: The thirteen colonies formally declare independence from Britain, making the Boston Tea Party a historical milestone on the path to revolution.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party"
  title: Boston Tea Party
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Boston Tea Party was the point of no return. It transformed tax resistance into property destruction, gave Britain justification for the Coercive Acts, and consolidated colonial opinion around independence. Within three years, the Declaration of Independence followed.
categories:
- protest
taxonomy:
domain: social_movement
eventTypes:
- protest
- civil_disobedience
- boycott
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- mobilization
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: emergent
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: "December 16, 1773: Colonists destroy 342 chests of tea in Boston Harbor, escalating conflict with Britain."
wikidataQid: Q19024
peoplesVoice:
- source: Lord North, British Prime Minister
  voiceType: official
  context: Parliament's initial response to news of the destroyed tea shipment in early 1774
  excerpt: This is the most serious insult which Great Britain has ever received. We must assert our right to tax the colonies, or give up the sovereignty of Parliament.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 88
  attribution: House of Commons debate, January 1774
  publishedAt: 1774-01-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Samuel Adams, Sons of Liberty organizer
  voiceType: expert
  context: Adams defending the protest to fellow colonists in the weeks following December 16
  excerpt: A destruction of the tea was absolutely and indispensably necessary. This is the only proper method of opposing the tyranny of the ministry and Parliament.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Boston newspapers and correspondence, late December 1773
  publishedAt: 1773-12-25
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Massachusetts Gazette editor
  voiceType: media
  context: A cautious journalistic assessment published the day after the raid
  excerpt: Last night saw a bold and unprecedented action. Whether it proves a victory for liberty or a ruinous excess, history alone shall judge.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 62
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Massachusetts Gazette, December 17, 1773
  publishedAt: 1773-12-17
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Massachusetts Royal Governor
  voiceType: official
  context: Hutchinson's report to London detailing the incident and his assessment of colonial sentiment
  excerpt: The proceedings of the people of this town were outrageous and unjustifiable. This destruction of property cannot be tolerated without the most serious consequences.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 80
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Official despatch to Lord Dartmouth, December 1773
  publishedAt: 1773-12-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John Adams, Massachusetts lawyer and patriot
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Adams privately assessing the long-term implications of the Tea Party in his diary
  excerpt: This event will render the colonies and the mother country irreconcilable. The die is now cast for American independence.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 82
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - John Adams diary, December 1773
  publishedAt: 1773-12-18
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260608062941/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-08
  label: Boston Tea Party
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party"
