Boston Tea Party Dbq

Great Essays
Transitions and Turning Points to the American Revolution
The Revolutionary War is one of the most famous events in the early history of America. The effects of this Revolution remain evident when people examine the everyday life of modern day Americans. The American people continue to be free from monarchical reign, the Declaration of Independence continues to serve as principles which are to be upheld, and the common people live day to day in search of natural rights such as “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. However, in order gain the liberation Americans now possess many historical events had to have taken place. There were a combination of popular acts of rebellion, propaganda, and influential writings which helped give rise
…show more content…
This account, written in 1773, is very useful for modern day scholars to obtain a greater understanding of the Boston Tea Party. Hewes tells of the town meeting held at the Old South Church where the colonists asked that the East India Company tea not be imported. Samuel Adams then rises from his seat and proclaims, “This meeting can do nothing to save the country.” Once the meeting was adjourned colonists took notice of the Mohawk Indians charging towards the harbor. The Indians paddled towards the British tea ship, hopped aboard, then proceeded to dump 18,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor. Hewes’ account of rebellion against the crown was another way of showing support of colonial reform. However, King George III was not in support of this rebellious act; he in response tightened his control by passing the Intolerable Acts. These acts revoked the Massachusetts charter, shut down the Boston Harbor, forced colonists to house British soldiers, and moved trials. These hated acts only fueled the fire, thus continuing the progression towards a …show more content…
Jefferson addresses this belief with the statement “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. Jefferson’s wording established a right of consent that gave the people rights to change or do away with any government that threatens the unalienable rights of the American citizens. They could also install a form of government that would uphold the principals stated in the declaration. It is a blatant attack on Britain when Jefferson lists the rights of the Americans that were violated by the British. The Declaration states, “He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.” It also states “all men are created equal” which was in reference to free citizen being political equals. When the formal copy of the Declaration was presented to a group of delegates on July 2, 1776, they unanimously voted that the colonist would be considered free. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted. The Patriots grew anxious when they presented the Declaration to the public because it would change the United States forever. After hearing the presentation of the Declaration of Independence colonial communities began to split in to two parties. The

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Gregg Frazer, author of “The American Revolution: Not a just war” affirms that the American Revolution was much more than just a war. Although it was based on the Illuminist ideals that preached ideals of freedom and equality of rights, the independence of the United States was realized by the colonial elite and aimed at guaranteeing the interests and privileges of this class. It has inspired other similar movements in America. For the first time in the history of European expansion, a colony became independent through a revolutionary act. And he did so not only by proclaiming to the world, in the historical document approved on July 4, the right to independence and free choice of every people and every person ("the right to life, freedom…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Revolution changed and impacted our history. The revolutionary left it’s mark in history and a few familiar names and holidays including The 4th of July, Pulaski Day (Illinois), The Philadelphia 49ers, The New England Patriots, and much more. Towns, sports teams, schools, streets, countries, and even family names can be traced back to the American Revolution (Background Essay). Before the revolution, there was extreme changes in the political system, social system, and the economic system. Due to these changes, the American Revolution was seen as a radical change; because of the ending of slavery, and the equality of women.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theories like natural rights of man and consent of the governed is presented in this writing. God gives natural rights of man and that cannot be taken. If a person were to lose these rights they’d be less of a human. Jefferson proposed “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.” At the time, Jefferson states that the colonies were not receiving these rights.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Boston Tea Party Movement

    • 2034 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Throughout history, the process of protest has influenced the present the past and will continue to influence the future. It has created the world as we know it and has been a force that is undeniably changed the course of history. The Boston Tea Party protest is an early example, it helped form our nation. The civil rights movement showed us that with careful planning change can be forced. Throughout this essay, it will discuss the history of protest, how it has influenced change, the current situation of protest, why it 's not working , and how protest could be transformed to reflect the current times.…

    • 2034 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence). When Thomas Jefferson first wrote the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, this historic quote was believed to be true, but only to an extent. After the British started raising taxes and harming the American colonist society, the Americans believed that they no longer needed to be ruled by someone who lived across an entire ocean. Rebellion grew, and soon the Declaration of Independence was written and signed by the members of the Congress. A war ensued, and after years of…

    • 2089 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Colonial America Dbq

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From the colonial period through the early Republic, Americans shared a desire for liberty and equality, two dreams complexly linked together, requiring attentiveness from all citizens to maintain a balance, which proved to be a delicate task, regardless of the time-period. Colonial Period English colonization in the Americas during the colonial period, 1492-1750, made up of two distinct groups, those in search of religious freedom and persecution, and those interested in new land and fortunes. Liberty for early colonials meant freedom from their jobless and landless mother country of England. In fact, many viewed America in the early seventeenth century as a land of opportunity; so much in fact, Europeans were willing to risk the tumultuous…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A tremendous leader, Thomas Jefferson, once said, “that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were both passionate about onsetting a movement to assist the colonists to live in the land of the free. Their objective was to leave the British King by persuading the colonists to be fearless enough to leave, however the colonists would have to be willing to forfeit their valuables. By revisiting history, individuals learn the steps the founding fathers took to freedom, even though they spoke to different audiences the goal of life, liberty, and pursuit happiness was compatible. There is always a mission to…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Danzer, 209] After the colonists figured out the King’s ruse with the tea taxes, there was another event in history that would change everything; The Boston Tea Party. December 17th, 1773, a group of rebels in Boston took to the streets wearing Native American disguises and paraded down to the docks. There, they snuck onto Britain ships and dumped millions of dollars worth of tea into the harbor. King George could not seem to have a break from the Massachusetts colony, so, he decided it would be best to punish them. Britain punished Boston by putting forward the Intolerable Acts and the Martial…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Indian War Causes

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In 1754, after turmoil between the English and French over territory in North America, tensions reached a boiling point, and the French Indian War began. The war was fought between the French and their Native American allies against the British and the Colonies. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, giving the British control over massive amounts of previously French territory in North America. Although the French Indian War ended twelve years before the American Revolution began, it can be seen as the most important cause of the Revolution due to the damage it did to the British economy and the subsequent actions taken to relieve their debt.…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At this time, many people began to become extremely belligerent, looking for ways to take action into their own hands. Protestors dressed up as Mohawk Indians boarded the three ships and proceeded to dump an unfathomable 342 chests of tea into the harbor. It took nearly three hours for more than 100 colonists to empty the tea into Boston Harbor. The chests held more than 90,000 pounds of tea, which would be valued at about $1,700,000 dollars today. After this event occurred, the Parliament was absolutely outranged by the destruction of the British…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On Thursday, December 16th of 1773, many American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians, rejected the tax on the Chinese tea that was imported from Great Britain and heaved the tea off the Boston harbor. This historical event in history is now known as the Boston Tea Party. There were over 100 people who participated, but the main leaders were the Sons of Liberty. However, there is one question: Why did the patriots reject the tea?…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Boston Tea Party is the most important turning point in American history because it marked the first of a series of subsequent events—from British colonies to independent states and from independent states to a united nation -- that led to the formation of the United States of America. First and foremost, The Boston Tea Party led to the Revolutionary War and consequently to the Civil War, which in turn, ended the institution of slavery and redefined the political and social configuration of the American territory and the rights of its people. In addition, the Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a series of events that led to the Declaration of American Rights, the First Continental Congress, the Continental Association (1774) and, in turn, to the Articles of Confederation and to the Declaration of Independence (1776). In other words, The Boston Tea Party represents the beginning of the American journey toward common nationality. Without the “Destruction of the tea,” as Samuel Adams called the Boston Tea Party in his…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boston Tea Party Analysis

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages

    American colonists became outraged over the tax and made smuggling tea even more expensive then the tea received from the East India Company. Tensions with Britain and the Americans were on an all-time high and on November 28th 1773 the first of three British ships carrying 340 chest of tea arrived in Boston looking to unload their cargo. Many citizens wanted the ships and the tea sent back to England without the payment of tax, but Governor Thomas Hutchinson wanted the tax paid and did not want to allow the ships to leave until the tea was completely unloaded. John Andrews a British Merchant living in Boston would write one of the most import eye witness accounts in a letter to his brother-in-law; William Barrell of Philadelphia. In this letter John Andrews describes the…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tea Party In Boston

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    At that time, the American colonies the struggling due to the arbitrariness of the British colonial power, like that of the rest of the colonies stretching in all continents of the world. One day that year colonizers decided to raise taxes on the product (tea) who brings the other colony to Colonial America, and this decision was the beginning of a popular boycott of the products followed by «revolution» violent led by activist Samuel Adams and a group of rebels who attacked three ships laden with tea in Boston city, and took the throw tea into the sea in clear defiance of the settlers, and were followed by the other rebels in the rest of the colonies, and has since come to be renamed the incident to «tea party in Boston», one of the most important…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boston Tea Party

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Proclamation of 1763 prevented the expansion of land in the colonies. The Stamp Act affected every part of colonial life, such that some colonists could not even get a marriage license without having to pay the tax. The Tea Act undercut American tea merchants, decreasing profit and hurting the economy. The Coercive Acts in essence stripped power from the colonies and increased their hatred for British crown. All of these events and more were a major part in the Continental Congress issuing the Declaration of Independence.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays