Sons of the American Revolution Commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

On December 9, 2023, the Colonel James Wood II (CJWII) Chapter of the Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution (VASSAR) combined with the Fort Loudoun and Ketoctin Daughters of the American Revolution Chapters to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.  Compatriots from the Fairfax Resolves (FR) SAR and Williamsburg (WMB) SAR Chapters joined along with members of the Lawrence Augustus Washington Children of the American Revolution Society at North Hill Farm in Clarke County, Virginia.

Participants from the Col James Wood II, Fairfax Resolves and Williamsburg SAR Chapters, Fort Loudoun and Ketoctin DAR Chapters and Lawrence Augustus Washington C.A.R. Society.  (Photo/Chip Daniel)

It was 250 years ago in 1773 that the American colonies were in the stages of revolt against the policies enacted by King George III and Parliament to force the colonies to pay for the French and Indian War. They had passed tax act which gave a monopoly to the British India Tea Company. The patriots were concerned about Parliament’s authority over the colonies without having any elected representation. In December of 1773, there were three ships (all owned by American colonists) in the Boston Harbor that were preparing to off load shipments of tea from Great Britain. These ships, the Dartmouth, Eleanor and Beaver had a deadline to offload their cargo by December 17.

On December 16, 1773, there was a gathering of approximately 7,000 patriots in Boston, led by Dr Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams, Dr Benjamin Church and John Hancock among others at the Old South Meeting House. These Sons of Liberty led the debate concerning the tea tax. A request was sent to Governor Hutchinson to have the ships return to England with their load of tea. That was denied and word was brought to the assembly by Francis Rotch. With that, it was shouted, “Who knows how tea will mingle with sea water?” Followed by “Boston Harbor, a teapot tonight,” and “The Mohawks are coming.” Sam Adams then proclaimed that nothing more could be done to save the country.

Several of the men disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians. This was to help keep their identities secret, yet symbolic in nature. They were letting the world know that they identified themselves as “American” rather than British subjects. These men marched to the ships and proceeded to dump 342 chests weighing 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor. Nothing else on the ships was damaged and the colonists ensured the decks were swept of debris with no harm to the crews. John Adams said “This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important consequences, and so lasting, that I can’t but consider it as an epocha in history.”

Musket Squad firing, from left to right: Dale Corey, Sean Carrigan, Chip Daniel, Allan Phillips, Gary Dunaway, Paul Christensen and Jim Cridge. (Photo/Chip Daniel)

The action resulted in 16 additional “Tea Parties” throughout the colonies, to included the ladies in Edenon, North Carolina, who were led by Penolope Barker in the first public, organized women’s protest in American History. Barker said “Maybe it has only been men who have protested the king up to now. That only means we women have taken too long to let our voices be heard. We are signing our names to a document, not hiding ourselves behind costumes like the men in Boston did at their tea party. The British will know who we are.” The ladies proceeded to throw tea into a fire as a form of protest.

As a result of these actions, the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in April 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the tea party incident. These Acts closed Boston Harbor, took away home rule from Massachusetts, allowed British officials who committed a capital offense to be tried in another colony or Great Britain and forced all Americans to board British troops in unoccupied buildings. The Acts were meant to impose strict control over the colonies. However, this only further infuriated the patriots. Patriots in other colonies began siding with those in Massachusetts and which led to convening the First Continental Congress in September 1774. It was decided to boycott all British goods until the Intolerable Acts were repealed. The end result was rebellion and the War of Independence.

Marc Robinson opened the ceremony calling for a presentation of the colors by the Virginia State SAR Color Guard, commanded by Darrin Schmidt, and the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Kara and Lucy Mazzoucolo from the Lawrence Augustus Washington C.A.R. Society. Greetings were given by VASSAR 3rd Vice President Darrin Schmidt followed by presentations given by Ketoctin DAR Regent Stacey Bassett, Fort Loudoun DAR Regent Susan Lauer, Lawrence Augustus Washington C.A.R. President Alexandra Collins and CJWII compatriot Dale Corey. Participants where then given small chest of tea to dump into water or tea bags to burn in a fire pit, symbolic the protest 250 years ago. Wreaths were presented and a firing of a musket salute to honor those patriots who turned Boston Harbor into a giant tea pot.

The color guard with the colors, from left to right: Darrin Schmidt, Paul Christensen, Allan Phillips, Richard Collins, Richard Tyler, Jim Cridge, Larry McKinley, Chip Daniel, Jim Cordes, Sean Carrigan and Gary Dunaway. (Photo/Dale Corey)

Participating from the SAR were CJWII compatriots Sean Carrigan, Paul Christensen, Richard Collins, Dale Corey, Jim Cridge, Thomas “Chip” Daniel, Allan Phillips, Marc Robinson, Jim Simmons and Richard Tyler. They were joined by compatriots Jim Cordes, Darrin Schmidt and Larry McKinley from FR and Gary Dunaway from WBG chapters.