The Boston Tea Party Was a Lie

Yeah,

You heard me!

It was.

Just like George Washington and his cherry tree, this American myth needs to be shot down too.

Turns out the Sons of Liberty were not protesting the tea tax, they were saving their lucrative tea smuggling operation. See some of the Sons, specifically John Hancock, was illegally importing tea from the Dutch East Indies Company, bypassing British Customs and selling the tea in the 13 original colonies. Sweet eh?

Now, there was a tea tax and there was a protest. And it was working. With the illegal tea available at cheaper prices the colonists had all but ceased purchasing tea through legal sources. We win! YEAH!!!!

Except for one little problem.

The British East India Company was not thrilled to have all this extra tea available in their warehouses. So they cut their prices. LOW.... So low, that the price of tea was now below the pre-tax price. How low was that? Lower than Hancock and Co. could afford to import illegal tea for. (and yes, I know that sentence is ungrammatical)

And that is how is the Boston Tea Party came to happen. It didn't occur to stop the British from selling OVER-PRICED tea to the American colonists... It happened to stop the American colonists from buying CUT-RATE-priced tea.

Think of that the next time you want a spot...

Thank Biggie for making me remember that story and enjoy your trip to Bean-town! Maybe you too can be banned from the Freedom Trail.