On December 16, 1773, a group of disgruntled Bostonians marched to the harbor, boarded three ships, and in what was described as an orderly fashion, discarded three hundred and forty two chests of tea into the harbor below. This event, the Boston Tea Party, has become part of the American memory of the progression of events precipitating the breakout of Revolution. There was the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, the Continental Congress, the shot heard ‘round the world, and finally the Declaration of Independence. And while the Tea Party has earned prime billing in the lead up to war, this it turns out is more a historical appropriation than an opinion held at the time.
Much of what we know of what happened that evening comes from one source long after the fact. George Robert Twelves Hewes, a shoemaker with a decidedly memorable name, had participated in the events of that night, as well being present at the Boston Massacre and other moments of unrest in pre-revolutionary Boston. Despite having been one of the leaders of the tea revolt that night, Hewes lived much of his life in poverty and relative anonymity, making shoes to scrape by. That is, until, he was discovered by a historian in 1833 (Hewes lived to the age of 98) who described Hewes' tale of the destruction of the tea in a complete biography about the man. Amid a spate of interest in the Revolution and in a resurgence of working-class sentiment in the face of big money, Hewes became something of a living legend, standing as a symbol for the lower classes and their place in the war that had created America.
It was interesting that Hewes’ biographer, James Hawkes, chose the term “Tea-Party” to describe the event at all, as it was one of the first appearances the phrase had ever made in print. What’s more intriguing to the modern observer is that while the phrase was an invention of the 1830’s, the event itself was hardly remembered by the people of America. Simply, the tea party, or “the destruction of the tea” as it was called in historical writings until that point, wasn’t yet a part of the American memory of the Revolution. There were memorials for those lost in the Boston Massacre, and parades and recitations to celebrate Boston's role in the lead up to independence, but the tea party had never been part of the regular course of historical pageantry. It just wasn't remembered.
That is, until Hewes brought the story back to life. It was a combination of a renewed interest in that period of history, as well as the introduction of Hewes, who could impart a reliable first hand account of the events of that evening, that propelled the Tea Party into its vaunted place in the American story. The working classes of the 1830’s found a friendly narrative in the idea that America rose out of a group of workingmen rebelling against the rich tea drinkers and the monarchy. It stands as one of the most evocative legends from that early part of the American narrative. As further histories were written describing the genesis of the nation, the tea party was included as an important step on the path to revolution.
That is, until Hewes brought the story back to life. It was a combination of a renewed interest in that period of history, as well as the introduction of Hewes, who could impart a reliable first hand account of the events of that evening, that propelled the Tea Party into its vaunted place in the American story. The working classes of the 1830’s found a friendly narrative in the idea that America rose out of a group of workingmen rebelling against the rich tea drinkers and the monarchy. It stands as one of the most evocative legends from that early part of the American narrative. As further histories were written describing the genesis of the nation, the tea party was included as an important step on the path to revolution.