In 1773 a group of American colonists protested the British tea tax by dumping three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor, an event that would later be referred to as the Boston Tea Party. Much more recently, a group of disgruntled Americans have formed a band of protests across the country with the same name to emphasize their dismay at rising taxes.
The Boston Tea Party
This tea-destroying event was one of the biggest historical markers of the American Revolution. It was in response to a series of taxes levied on the colonists by the British parliament, beginning in 1764 with the Sugar Act. Colonists argued and protested at town meetings over what they deemed "Taxation Without Representation," a slogan that would serve as a rallying cry for the Revolutionary War. Some colonies stopped importing goods from England in the 1760s to avoid paying the taxes involved. When Britain instituted the Stamp Act in 1765, taxing stamps required on every piece of paper from almanacs to playing cards, the colonists began to organize.
According to the Boston Tea Party Historical Society, on Nov. 29, 1773 a handbill was passed around Boston that read, "Friends! Brethren! Countrymen!--That worst of plagues, the detested tea, shipped for this port by the East India Company, is now arrived in the harbor." This incited the town to riot and take out their frustrations with British taxes on the tea on those ships.
There are several different groups that currently refer to themselves as "Tea Parties."
The Tea Party Revolution
The Tea Party Revolution (TPR) is a group of American citizens who claim no affiliation with a political party but wish to "return the government to its roots as a republic as our founding fathers intended." Groups like this have begun gaining more attention in the past several years.
TPR describes its purpose as informing citizens and encouraging them to take part in the legislative process. This is often in the form of "tea parties," a somewhat ambiguous term that loosely refers to a group of political activists concerned with rising taxes. One of the main goals of TPR (and presumably of those who organize under its name) is rectification of the financial relationship between the government and its citizens.
These grassroots groups of protesters and sign-holders have managed to exact big change in small towns across the country, events TRP deems victories.
The Woonsocket, R.I. newspaper, The Call, reported on April 20, 2009 that a group of protesting property-owners persuaded city council not to pass a new tax bill to help with school department debt.
As documented in a YouTube video, Congressman Gresham Barrett of S.C. was booed by tea partiers at a rally in Greenville in April 2009 for voting yes on President Obama's TARP "bailout" bill.
Tea Party Express
The Tea Party Express is a bus tour that takes tea partiers cross-country to hold rallies and protests with other political activists on subjects from the American financial crisis to health care reform. The first tour took place during August and September 2009 and caught media attention nationwide. The Express just finished its second tour (October-November 2009) which focused on various political issues and was dubbed "Countdown to Judgment Day" (the November 2010 mid-term elections.)
National TEA Party Day
On April 15 and again on July 4, 2009, people across America participated in TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties to protest the Obama administration's spending habits and the nation's rising debt. As he writes on his website, Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter created an online petition "to end wasteful government spending and officially declare April 15 'National TEA Party Day."
Organizations aligning themselves, however indirectly, with the original tea party, have garnered much controversy. Many tea partiers add slogans communicating their frustration with the president and their feeling that the American people have lost control of their country. At times slogans and depictions of the president have come under media scrutiny, such as a drawing of the president in the likeness of Hitler.
Though the dozens of tea party factions blossoming across the country each have their own individual missions, the underlying goal of reigning in government spending, and government control in general, seems to be cohesive.
Kaitlin Ugolik - Kaitlin graduated from Elon University in Elon, N.C. in May 2009 with a BA in Journalism. She has always loved writing, whether it be news ...
