DAR hosts event to commemorate 250th anniversary of Boston Tea Party
The River of Pearls Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held a Boston Tea Party at the Mississippi Agriculture Museum in Jackson last weekend.
Member Donna Russell of Madison said the DAR hosted the event on Saturday, Dec. 16, the actual date of the Boston Tea Party 250 years ago.
“America recently celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and the city of Boston was not the only celebration of note,” Russell said.
Children of the American Revolution (CAR) from Pontotoc, Houston, Tupelo, and Madison came to participate.
In addition, the chapter sponsored, the Junior Achievement Citizen’s Club from the Buddy Center (MS Down’s Syndrome Association), and other special guests.
One of the special guests was Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson.
Russell said members of the River of Pearls chapter put on a play about the Boston Tea Party and offered various learning and art centers for those in attendance.
Refreshments of spiced tea and cinnamon cookies were served to those in attendance.
An American Elm “Liberty Tree” was planted in the Victory Garden site at the Museum in recognition of the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the United States of America that will take place July 4, 2026.
Russell said history reflects that in the early 1770s, Britain had war debts due to the French and Indian War in America. The British Parliament began taxing the American colonists to pay these debts. The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 benefited the British but were not used to sustain the colonies, she said. The colonists felt the taxes were unfair, and since they did not have representation in Parliament, “No taxes without representation” became the cry of the colonists.
The Boston Massacre in March 1770, where five colonists were killed by the British led to further rage. The Tea Act was passed which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free but still highly taxed when it reached colonial ports of entry. The Sons of Liberty protested the Tea Act and other forms of taxation, she said.
“This group of revolutionists included patriots such as John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Dr. Joseph Warren, and Samuel Adams,” she said.
On December 16, 1773, the British East India Company sent three ships: the Dartmouth, Beaver, and Eleanor into the Boston Harbor carrying over 90,000 pounds of valuable tea. That night a large group of Bostonians disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded the docked ships, and in less than three hours, threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor on the Charles River.
“The names of most of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain unknown,” Russell said. “And thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party participants was arrested and imprisoned; but because no one would vow he had been involved, was released.”
She said King George III, in retribution, passed the Intolerable Act, to punish Boston. He felt this would squelch rebellion in New England and prevent them from uniting, but the colonies rallied to Boston’s aid, and this led to the convening of the First Continental Congress and the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, which started eighteen months later.