the first tea party

     The original "tea party" from which the "tea party" party takes its name happened in Boston in 1775. It is usually called the "Boston Tea Party". The British wanted the American colonists to pay a special tax on tea. This tax was part of a series of new taxes levied on the Americans by the British government, to pay for the costs of the French and Indian War ( the Seven Years War ). The Americans objected to the taxes, and resented having no say in the British government.  They refused to pay the tax on a shipment of tea, and it remained on the ship in Boston harbor. One night, several colonists, dressed up as Indians, boarded the ship and threw the tea into Boston harbor.
     This was something more than a colorful incident. The British demanded that the colonists pay for the tea. The colonists refused. The British blockaded Boston's harbor, and basically besieged the city--no one could go in or out, not even to deliver supplies, unless the British troops permitted it. This made great political capital for the cause of American independence from Great Britain. News of the poor people of Boston and their plight moved many people to side with the revolutionaries--people who had been lukewarm or indifferent supporters were moved by the accounts of British cruelty reported in the press.
     The Boston Tea Party and the events that followed may have done more to foment revolution than all the other taxes and protests. The British response to the "Tea Party" turned out to be one of the worst political moves of all time--what we would now call a public relations disaster.