16 dez 1773 ano - 1773 "The Destruction of the Tea" Later Known As "The Boston Tea Party"

Descrição:

December 16th 1773

On December 16th, the deadline for paying the taxes, Francis Rotch, a Nantucket Quaker and owner of the Dartmouth, agrees to sail his ship back to England and requests permission from Hutchinson to pass freely through Boston Harbor. Instead of easing tensions by allowing the ship to leave, Governor Hutchinson denies permission to clear the port.
That evening, 5,000 or more Colonists gather in the Old South Meeting House, tensely waiting to learn if Hutchinson will permit the three ships carrying British tea to leave Boston Harbor and return to England.

Scattered throughout the men, women, and children packed into Old South are members of the Sons of Liberty, a group of Colonists opposed to English rule and taxation.
After dark, Rotch returns from his meeting with Hutchinson and reports that he cannot depart. And that's when Patriot Samuel Adams shouts the secret code words to the crowd in the Old South Meeting House, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!"
Hearing this prearranged secret signal, the Sons of Liberty leap into action.

Hastily disguising themselves, some as Mohawk Indians, Sam and about 150 others race down to Griffin's Wharf (now the site of the splendid InterContinental Hotel Boston) where the ships were anchored. Many other Patriots join them along the way.

In the darkness, they divide into 3 groups, each boarding a ship and all together heaving 342 chests of tea worth $1 million in today's dollars into Boston Harbor - an event that quickly became known around the Colonies and today in American Revolutionary history as the Boston Tea Party.

And on this evening, the American Revolution against British rule began.

Interesting fact
From 1773 forward for the next 62 years, people refer to the events on the night of December 16th as "The Destruction of the Tea." Finally, in 1835, the Sons of Liberty's bold actions start being called "The Boston Tea Party."

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