Episode 039: The Politics of Tea

American Revolution Podcast

Michael Troy

History, Education

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2018

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After several years of calm in the colonies, Parliament changes the way tea is distributed and taxed throughout the Empire. Mostly, this is an attempt to bail out the East India Company which had too much tea and not enough cash. The Tea Act of 1773 reduced or eliminated almost all taxes on tea, and also allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies, rather than having to go through expensive middlemen. The result would be a massive drop in the price of tea. With all duties eliminated accept for a small 3 pence per pound tarriff, tea in the colonies would be much cheaper than ever before. But the Sons of Liberty feared this was an effort to break the back of the already failing non-importation agreements. Once colonies accepted this tiny tariff, the precedent would be set to tax the colonies whenever Parliament wanted. In late 1773, seven ships loaded with tea headed for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. The colonist had barely learned about hte new system before the tea would arrive. This left everyone guessing what their next step would be. For more text, pictures, maps, and sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.
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0:32.5	Caudet UK. Hello and thank you for joining the American Revolution.
0:47.0	Today episode 39 the Politics of Tea.
0:52.0	After Parliament revealed most of the the politics of tea.
0:56.0	After Parliament repealed most of the Townsend duties and the army pulled the soldiers out of downtown Boston in 1770,
1:01.0	things had remained relatively quiet for about three years.
1:05.0	Parliament did not try to pass any laws that would tick off the colonies,
1:09.0	and colonial leaders seemed to go about their business.
1:12.0	The remain, of course, the continuing British attempts to enforce customs laws.
1:17.0	The colonies continued to smuggle much of their trade in avoidance of these laws.
1:21.0	And the one significant issue during this period was the 1772
1:25.6	attack on the Gas Bay that I discussed back in episode 36. Beyond that, it was the usual
1:32.4	cat and mouse game between smugglers and customs officials supported by the Navy.
1:37.0	Colonies never really claimed a right to smuggle goods though, so the only political issue was the fight over what tactics
1:44.4	officials could use to search colonists. Politically, the dispute over the
1:49.3	T-tax remained a sticking point. The tax had been part of the original towns and duties in 1767
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