Anarchists of Today Same as Boston Tea Party Actors?

[rogue06]

The Boston Tea Party was organized, brief, and had the intent of accomplishing a specific goal without collateral damage. It wasn't an aimless riot that randomly targeted innocent citizens and their businesses, stretching on for weeks with no end game.

Nobody was killed much less assaulted. Nobody ran off with the 18th cent. equivalent of cell phones, big screen TVs, cases of liquor or expensive sneakers that they looted.

If they're looking for an equivalent then maybe Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, where the colonial capitol of Virginia was torched, or maybe Knowles Riot in Boston in 1747, where citizens rampaged for three days protesting the impressment of several dozen people by the British Royal Navy, would be much better comparisons.

[Maranatha]

I keep seeing statements like this....



The hyperlink is there for you to see that this is a very misguided attempt to liken the anarchists of today with the Boston Tea Party.

The BTT, of course, did not happen in a vacuum, and it was part of a much larger series of events.

For a quick reminder, and, admittedly, this is the History Channel which is not an official source...

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn’t take taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence.

Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen?

In the 1760s, Britain was deep in debt, so British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on American colonists to help pay those debts.

The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed colonists on virtually every piece of printed paper they used, from playing cards and business licenses to newspapers and legal documents. The Townshend Acts of 1767 went a step further, taxing essentials such as paint, paper, glass, lead and tea.

The British government felt the taxes were fair since much of its debt was earned fighting wars on the colonists’ behalf. The colonists, however, disagreed. They were furious at being taxed without having any representation in Parliament, and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them to gain revenue.

Boston Massacre Enrages Colonists

On March 5, 1770, a street brawl happened in Boston between American colonists and British soldiers.

Later known as the Boston Massacre, the fight began after an unruly group of colonists—frustrated with the presence of British soldiers in their streets—flung snowballs, ice and oyster shells at a British sentinel guarding the Boston Customs House.

Reinforcements arrived and opened fire on the mob, killing five colonists and wounding six. The Boston Massacre and its fallout further incited the colonists’ rage towards Britain.

Tea Act Imposed

Britain eventually repealed the taxes it had imposed on the colonists except the tea tax. It wasn’t about to give up tax revenue on the nearly 1.2 million pounds of tea the colonists drank each year.

In protest, the colonists boycotted tea sold by British East India Company and smuggled in Dutch tea, leaving British East India Company with millions of pounds of surplus tea and facing bankruptcy.

In May 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act which allowed British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and much cheaper than other tea companies – but still tax the tea when it reached colonial ports.

Tea smuggling in the colonies increased, although the cost of the smuggled tea soon surpassed that of tea from British East India Company with the added tea tax.

Still, with the help of prominent tea smugglers such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams —who protested taxation without representation but also wanted to protect their tea smuggling operations—colonists continued to rail against the tea tax and Britain’s control over their interests.

.......

I'm wondering if there is anybody else who sees the Boston Tea Party as the same -- or even nearly the same -- as what the anarchists are doing across our nation today.

I need more before I can make a comparison.

After all, an angry 8 year old can claim the same thing by vandalizing his neighbors lemonade stand.

Let's see if these lily white tough guys form a militia and start a war of independence.

Then I will give it some credence. I imagine the tough guy liberals here would sign up right away because...orange man bad.

[Cow Poke]

The Boston Tea Party was organized, brief, and had the intent of accomplishing a specific goal without collateral damage. It wasn't an aimless riot that randomly targeted innocent citizens and their businesses, stretching on for weeks with no end game.

PLUS, it was part of an overall seriously thought out plan to deal with a specific problem, to which the petitioners bravely signed their names, knowing it was at the risk of their own lives, fortunes and honor.

[JimL]

PLUS, it was part of an overall seriously thought out plan to deal with a specific problem, to which the petitioners bravely signed their names, knowing it was at the risk of their own lives, fortunes and honor.

Doesn't change the fact that it was a violent protest against what the colonist thought to be wrong. Throwing tea into the sea, toppling statues of racist traitors.

[Cow Poke]

Doesn't change the fact that it was a violent protest against what the colonist thought to be wrong. Throwing tea into the sea, toppling statues of racist traitors.

Still trying to defend the nutty chaos and mayhem of the left by besmirching the founders of our nation.

[JimL]

Still trying to defend the nutty chaos and mayhem of the left by besmirching the founders of our nation.

Obviously I'm not besmirching either of them.

[Cow Poke]

Obviously I'm not besmirching either of them.

Well, certainly not your leftists buddies who plunder and burn and destroy and loot and riot! But to try to equate them with the Sons of Liberty.....

Even you know better.

[Cow Poke]

Doesn't change the fact that it was a violent protest against what the colonist thought to be wrong. Throwing tea into the sea, toppling statues of racist traitors.

Now, I'll concede this much....

IF the Sons of Liberty had grabbed the tea and taken it home and burned the ship --- THEN it would be more like your buddies!

[KingsGambit]

I voted "kinda like". Both were biblically indefensible and involved destruction of property. But the Boston Tea Party was limited in scope... They didn't use it as an excuse to go crazy and steal other random property, nor did they try to hurt anybody.

[Leonhard]

Now, I'll concede this much....

IF the Sons of Liberty had grabbed the tea and taken it home and burned the ship --- THEN it would be more like your buddies!

We're at the unproductive part of this discussion. It is neither here nor there to say what might have happened, or what could have happened if those men had obeyed the law. As it stands I don't think we can compare the two cases.

[Ronson]

I voted "kinda like". Both were biblically indefensible and involved destruction of property. But the Boston Tea Party was limited in scope... They didn't use it as an excuse to go crazy and steal other random property, nor did they try to hurt anybody.

I initially thought the tea was private property. But it belonged to the British East India Company, which was a sanctioned and partially owned arm of the British government.

[KingsGambit]

Doesn't change the fact that it was a violent protest against what the colonist thought to be wrong. Throwing tea into the sea, toppling statues of racist traitors.

I wouldn't describe it as "violent".

[Cow Poke]

We're at the unproductive part of this discussion. It is neither here nor there to say what might have happened, or what could have happened if those men had obeyed the law. As it stands I don't think we can compare the two cases.

I agree - they are not comparable in any meaningful way.

[JimL]

Well, certainly not your leftists buddies who plunder and burn and destroy and loot and riot! But to try to equate them with the Sons of Liberty.....

Even you know better.

neither means neither despite your hyperbole. This is about statues, not burning, looting, and rioting. Try not to be dishonest.

[JimL]

Now, I'll concede this much....

IF the Sons of Liberty had grabbed the tea and taken it home and burned the ship --- THEN it would be more like your buddies!

Again, see if you can't keep your stories straight. Statue toppling-Tea party.