Early in the evening of December 16, 1773 about 150 men, dressed in blankets and with their faces painted to look like Mohawk Indians, walked quickly down to Griffin's Wharf, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. They were watched by a crowd of several thousand people. There, they found three merchant ships tied up " the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver, surrounded by ships of the Royal Navy. Each ship contained, among other things, a cargo of tea from China. The tea, worth an estimated $18,000, was packed in 342 tea chests.
On each ship the men politely asked the Captain for the keys to the hold. Then they unlocked the stores and brought the tea chests to the deck. Each one was smashed open and thrown into the sea. Very soon the harbor was awash with floating tea crates and tea leaves. It all took less than three hours.
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled and managed all the tea coming into the colonies. The author's purpose is to commemorate the Boston Tea Party anniversary of 100 years and the Special Meeting that took place at the home of Mr. Waterson to commemorate the anniversary and those who took part in the Boston Tea Party. The Massachusetts Historical Society member the Honorable Robert Winthrop called the meeting to order as it was a social evening recalling the events of 100 years ago. Some took a commemorative cup of tea with the ladies of Boston and gave a brief expression of their feelings. Some men died before they could see what happened after the Boston Tea Party while others lived to see and gain financially from this day.
The author, Massachusetts Historical Society showed some bias in reporting the events that took place 100 years prior to Boston Tea Party. I feel they wanted to get the correct information told but from the perspective of the Americans and not the British East India Company.
