this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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Didn’t want to not pay tariffs. The Tea they destroyed was tariff-free, which hurt the organisers who were smuggling tea and charging a huge mark-up to customers. The revolutionary leadership were furious when they heard their cause was being hijacked by a gang of crooks, and they put the ringleaders on trial for it.
This is a critical bit that gets overlooked in the US framing of events. The taxed tea was actually cheaper than what local businessmen were charging! We didn't have a grass-roots revolution for the benefit of "we the people". It was organized and funded by the local elites, who were throwing a fit that larger overseas elites were telling them what to do.
Eh it’s a bit more complicated than that. The ordinary people had their own reasons for rebellion but yeah ultimately it was captured by an elite faction as with basically every revolution in history.
Same as it ever was.
Same as it ever was.
Same as it ever was
Please make this make more sense. What I'm about to say does not come from a place of knowing, so please don't take this as an I'm right you're wrong kind of thing.
The whole point as far as I know was to rally against being charged extra for a product that came from overseas, presumably Asia first, then sold to England, then sold to us plus a fuck you tax (aka tariffs.)
How could smugglers possibly sell this cheaper at that point in time? And if they did can you show me where and how? On top of that, how did it tie in to the revolutionary war and who had such a big dick that they could make me learn the opposite 250 years later in school? (Or did I just not learn what they tried to teach?)
This tea never came near England. Legitimate tea was imported direct fron India, with tax applied. The EIC had a tariff-free licence to import cheaper tea.
The smugglers paid no tax, and pocketed the profit. This was undercut by the tariff-free tea.
As to how it tied in to the revolution, it didn’t. It wasn’t until 1820 that the tea party became a “thing” by being featured in a jingoistic children’s book. Prior to this it was a minor incident of criminal damage (later leading to serious damage when they burned ships in another port) and was an embarrassing event people tried to forget.
Thanks!
EIC?
East India Company.
Source?