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How the Boston Tea Party’s ‘destruction of the tea’ changed American history (250 years ago, today)
https://theconversation.com ^ | Dec 14, 2023

Posted on 12/16/2023 3:28:02 AM PST by 11th_VA

On the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, a crowd of armed men, some allegedly wearing costumes meant to disguise them as Native American warriors, boarded three ships docked at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston. In the vessels’ holds were 340 chests containing 92,000 pounds of tea, the most popular drink in America. With support from the patriot group known as the Sons of Liberty, the intruders methodically searched the ships and dumped their tea into Boston Harbor.

According to the British East India Company, whose proprietors owned the destroyed cargo, losses totaled more than a million dollars in today’s currency.

The “destruction of the tea” – as the Boston Tea Party was originally called – was the pivotal event in the coming of the American Revolution. Before Dec. 16, a peaceful resolution to American objections to Parliament’s repeated attempts to tax the Colonies without their consent seemed possible. Afterward, both British and American Colonial positions hardened. Within a year, Britain and America were at war.

An attack on private property

Because it was an attack on private property, the Tea Party offended many patriots in America. When George Washington learned what had happened, he made clear he disapproved of “destroying the tea.”

Benjamin Franklin so disliked the action that he offered to pay for the East India Company’s losses himself. Samuel Adams, assumed by both his peers and modern historians to be one of the Tea Party’s organizers, never admitted to being involved.

The original multinational conglomerate

Given the importance that Americans attached to property rights, why were Boston patriots willing to take such a calculated risk? The answer was the corrupt bargain that Lord North, the British prime minister, struck with the East India Company during the spring of 1773…

(Excerpt) Read more at theconversation.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: activism; activists; boston; bostonharbor; bostonteaparty; charlesarnoldbaker; godsgravesglyphs; protesters; protesting; sonsofliberty; taxedenoughalready; therevolution
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To: cotton1706

May I ask, what was the name of the book that you worked on?


41 posted on 12/17/2023 8:50:01 PM PST by ProgressingAmerica (The historians must be stopped. They're destroying everything.)
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To: ProgressingAmerica

“May I ask, what was the name of the book that you worked on?”

I assume you mean the book I helped my nephew with his boy scouts project? I did the opening sevearal chapters of A Christmas Carol.

But I’ve also written a book called This Republic: Illuminating Republican Government. And I’ve republished John Adams’ three volume work on governent, A Defence of the Constitutions.


42 posted on 12/18/2023 2:51:46 AM PST by cotton1706
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To: cotton1706; rlmorel

Good morning,

That book from John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions would make a fantastic audio book. I’d like to manage it until it was finished. FReeper rlmorel and I have been discussing ways to get more works of the Founders into audio for easier consumption.

I took a look, there are more than a dozen versions of A Christmas Carol.

I figured I would just ask in a straightforward way, is your Librivox account still active?


43 posted on 12/20/2023 3:06:13 AM PST by ProgressingAmerica (The historians must be stopped. They're destroying everything.)
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To: ProgressingAmerica

“I figured I would just ask in a straightforward way, is your Librivox account still active?”

I never had a Librivox account. My nephew’s eagle scout project was to create books on tape for the blind. So he had his friends and relatives record chapters of books. So my voice recording of A Christmas Carol isn’t available anywhere.

But I’m familiar with Librivox since I like to listen to Sherlock Holmes stories while I work.

An audiobook of Adams’ Defence actually would be a good idea. I republished it in a modern version because the original could not be read easily. Available copies were just microfilm copies of the 18th century versions, with the s’s looking like f’s, etc. I modernized the spellings and it’s in a 12 font which is very readable.


44 posted on 12/20/2023 3:53:41 AM PST by cotton1706
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To: cotton1706

That explains what I was missing! Good thing I asked.

I have seen the newer (font) versions of Adam’s ‘Defence’, now I know. You’re the guy!

These works from that era really need help. But there’s far too many of them for myself(one person) so I work with others when I can. I’ve chosen the path of audio books due to how mature Librivox’ distribution capabilities are and the value that comes from open source.

What I would have done with ‘Defence’ is had this started as a collaborative effort so it didn’t fall to one single recording voice and I’d have kept with it (managed it) until complete, all three volumes. Like I did with 2 of the 3 now complete Mercy Otis Warren works.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4176756/posts

I’ll initiate the final third Warren volume soon. I complete what I start.

https://freerepublic.com/tag/freeperbookclub/index


45 posted on 12/20/2023 5:56:57 AM PST by ProgressingAmerica (The historians must be stopped. They're destroying everything.)
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To: ProgressingAmerica
Yes, here are the books I've published, one I wrote myself.
46 posted on 12/20/2023 6:13:30 AM PST by cotton1706
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