2y ago

Boston Tea Party turns 250 years old with reenactments of the revolutionary protest

Patriotic mobs and harbor tea-dumping returned to Boston on Saturday as the city marked the 250th anniversary of the revolutionary protest that preceded America’s independence.

The commemoration of the Boston Tea Party included scheduled reenactments of the throwing of tea leaves into the city’s harbor and community meetings that preceded the defiant act on Dec. 16, 1773 — though this time, the symbolic protest was aided by spotlights and microphones. City officials were expecting thousands of visitors for the celebration.

Crowds who gathered to watch the reenactment quickly joined in, shouting “Huzzah!” along with the costumed actors as boxes of tea were dumped in the harbor. Later, they resoundingly booed an actor who read King George III’s order closing the bay, and they cheered as narrators detailed the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Tea for the reenactment was supplied by the East India Co., the same British company that was at the center of the raucous dispute.

30 comments

Funny... based on the photo they appear to be dressed like colonial Americans.
But the Tea Partiers weren't dressed like that.
For some reason, they were dressed like indigenous Americans.
Can't imagine why this reenactment left that key detail out.
- This was my first thought too.
  I think if we looked at the Boston Tea Party with today's eyes, we might see it as what it really was: a bunch of rich, white racists who didn't want to pay taxes and so they threw a tantrum and vandalized a bunch of private property.
  
  Couldn’t they have protested some other way, without destroying property? At least, that was the question asked by the US oligarchs during the protests in 2020.
  
  You obviously don’t understand that the tea party was an act of property destruction of a corporation that was given preferential treatment by the government. An “eat the rich” act against corporatism. We need more of that today yet here you are completely misrepresenting it and defending the mega corporations.
  https://fee.org/resources/about-that-famous-tea-party/
- The second image in the carousel is a drawing of the event, which shows the Tea Partiers wielding what looks like tomahawks.
  Didn't come up in the article tho.
- You seem to know the history well. Why were the Tea Partiers dressed like indigenous people?
  
  Plausible deniability.
  
  Racism
- Are you looking at a different photo than I am? Because they're dressed normally in the AP article
  
  I was going to upload a screenshot of the image to show you but apparently image uploads are temporarily disabled on lemmy.world
- Ashamed of your history? Don't worry, just whitewash it and pretend the ugly parts didn't happen. Now you can be proud again! Hurray!
I'm sick and tired of it being called the 'American Revolution'. More like the "American under new management".
The rebellion was started over taxes to pay for a war, and the first thing the new government did was put down a rebellion started over taxes to pay for the war. We just traded one George for another and saved Americans from the subjugation and horror suffered by Canadians and Australians.
The truth is that England defeated all the European powers that could threaten the colonies and America said thanks for defending us, it's made you weak and us strong, now guess what?
The French, the Haitians, and the Bolsheviks knew how to throw a proper revolution.
- The Haitian revolt while initially successful led to nothing but utter tragedy and disaster that continues to affect the country to this day. France extorted them into a debt that couldn't possibly be paid, and multiple other parties (including American banks that still currently exist) got in on the action. Haiti overthrew its slave masters and broke their chains only to spend most of its history with its former master's boot on its throat.
- saved Americans from the subjugation and horror suffered by Canadians and Australians.
  I'm sorry but I'm going to need a credible source from you to backup this claim and more clarification and context
  
  I think that was satire and they were saying that Canadians and Australians ended up with better governance by gaining their independence via peaceful means rather than violent ones.
  IE: When your founding narrative is the violence is the answer to problems, you continue to govern that way. When it is that peaceful negotiations that achieved independence, you continue to govern that way.
  USA: presidents assassinated 4 and 2 more wounded in failed attempts.
  Canadian PMs assassinated: Zero.
  Australian PMs assassinated: Zero
Today I learned the East India Co. Still exists!
- Are you kidding me? Of course it does. Too big to fail, ever.
  
  I thought that would be the case, but I never hear anything about it ever apart from in a historical context.
  I also would have expected a rebrand or two due to said history.
- The real master of puppet behind Trump, not Vlad!
Reading up on the boston tea party is fascinating. Apparently, colonists were angry that their tea was too cheap.
Really sets the stage for the next 250 years of American politics. The working class believes making their rulers richer the fastest at their own expense is a good thing.
https://fee.org/resources/about-that-famous-tea-party/
Tea for the reenactment was supplied by the East India Co., the same British company that was at the center of the raucous dispute.
This isn't true. The EIC from 250 years ago disbanded in the mid-1800s. The modern EIC is a totally separate company founded by an Indian guy around a decade ago as a luxury consumer brand.
Nothing says entitled so much as throwing a valuable commodity into the ocean to celebrate someone who did the same thing for much more important reasons centuries ago. Could've just thrown empty boxes but they just wasted a tonne of tea for no reason.

30 comments