Episode 112: Mary Beth Norton, The Tea Crisis of 1773

by Liz CovartDecember 13, 2016

Play episode

On December 16, 1773, the colonists of Boston threw 342 chests of English East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, an act we remember as the “Boston Tea Party.”

Have you ever wondered what drove the Bostonians to destroy the tea? Or whether they considered any other less destructive options for their protest?

Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University, takes us through the Tea Crisis of 1773.

About the Series

Episodes in the Doing History: To the Revolution! series explore the American Revolution and how what we know about it and how our view of it has changed over time.

Episodes will air in 2017.

The Doing History series is part of a partnership between Ben Franklin’s World and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. Be sure to check out season 1, Doing History: How Historians Work.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University, takes us through the Tea Crisis of 1773.

During our exploration, Mary Beth reveals the role tea played in North American colonial life; The Tea Act of 1773 and what the act meant for British American colonists; And, details about colonial responses to the Tea Act, including information about the Boston Tea Party.

What You’ll Discover

British North Americans’ relationship with tea
Role of tea in North American life
How North Americans imported their tea
Where North Americans imported their tea from
Effects of smuggling on the English East India Company
The Tea Act of 1773
Tea Consignees
Historical interpretations of the Tea Act
The Townshend Duties of 1767
The Boston Tea Party
Why the colonists did not want tea to land on North American shores
The story of the “seventh tea ship” and its wreck on Cape Cod
Cape Cod residents’ reaction to the salvaging of the William’s tea
How the story of the “seventh tea ship” affects how we view the American Revolution
Intercolonial resistance to the Tea Act
The role of newspapers during the Tea Crisis of 1773
Parliament’s reaction to colonial responses to the Tea Crisis

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Episode Partner

Complementary Episodes

Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the tea ships had arrived in Philadelphia and New York City first and had been delayed to Boston and Charleston? How would Philadelphia and New York City have responded if they had had to act first?