american revolution
In the fall of 1773 seven shipping vessels crossed the North Atlantic Ocean to several ports on the American Coastline. Beneath the stormed beaten decks were six-hundred thousand pounds of tea. Delivering to the ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston, the famous East India Company of London was assigned to transport the large amount of tea. Because of the controversy over the Townshend duties, the colonists refused the tea to be landed on shore. In New York and Philadelphia, the shipping vessels were ordered to turn back toward the Atlantic Ocean. In Charleston the tea was immediately seized by custom officials. But on the chilly evening of December 16, 1773 three-hundred-and-forty chests of tea was dumped into the harbor of Boston by antagonistic patriots, this rebellion was known as the Boston Tea Party. Significant in the coming of the American Revolution, the Boston Tea Party convinced the colonists that their freedom was in jeopardy. American independence came by revolution, rather than evolution. Only familiar to the natives in China, tea was to be introduced around the world. In the 1660's, the beverage was not known to countrymen. Englishmen, a century after, soon became addicted to the exotic brew. The
Cook, Sarah G. Boston's History. Computer Software. Compton's New Media, 1994. IBM. The notion of destroying the East India Company's tea was the last resort in the minds of Boston patriots. The Sons of Liberty, who had showed up for reasons varying from patriotism to the quest for excitement, and Bostonians boarded the tea ships on the cold December evening. Carrying hatchets to destroy the tea chests, three groups consisting of thirty to sixty participants and a leader were working on destroying the tea. Several men on each tea ship hoisted the chests on deck while another group broke open the chests and poured the tea into the harbor. A large crowd silently approving the damage watched along the wharf. In less than three hours, the gangs had destroyed and dumped all the tea into the harbor. It was made clear that nobody was to keep any tea. One patriot filled the lining of his coat with loose tea and was quickly spotted, stripped of his clothing, and given a beating. Governmental authorities did not interrupt the proceedings during the night of the destruction of the tea. The main factor to the Boston Tea Party's success was when the tea ships entered the harbor and into the hands of the Boston patriots. "This is the most magnificent Movement of all," wrote John Adams in his diary the next day. "There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity in this last Effort of the Patriots that I greatly admire... so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences and so lasting, that I cannot but consider it as an Epocha in History..."(Labaree p. 145) Thomas, Peter G. Tea Party to Independence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991 Because of the King's suggestion to move the custom-house, the Port Bill was passed. The Bill stated that because of the Boston Tea Party, commerce could no longer be safely be carried on there or even the duties collected by customs officers. The custom-house was moved to Plymouth and vessels participating in trade or commerce could not enter the Boston harbor. The purpose of the bill was to end disorder and to secure the dependence of the colonies.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2702
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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