by Henry Piarrot

Created on: April 09, 2009   Last Updated: April 11, 2009

Elections Matter

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." Thomas Jefferson
On April 15, millions of American working, voting and taxpaying patriots will assemble in cities and towns across the country for the first National TEA "Taxed Enough Already" Party. To voice their discontent with our governments' addiction to wasteful spending, bailouts, higher taxes and excessive power over its citizens, they will reenact and reinvent the ultimate American protest.

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was an amusing and emblematic episode in America's history. The event is a perfect example of how far we Americans were willing to go to speak up for our freedom. Irony should not be lost on our choice of reviving this particular historic act of defiance, as in each case the demonstrations are in response to the oppression of government. However, this time it is being used to demonstrate how our great republic now resembles the monarchy our founders fought to free us from long ago.
At the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763, King George III decided that over taxing the American colonies was the best way of recouping the costs of war. He was also looking for ways to re-establish his control over the colonies, as they had become progressively more independent while the Crown was preoccupied by the war. But, Royal incompetence actually prevented the execution of either goal, straining relations with the colonists. Finally, it was the Parliament's endeavor to tax tea that encouraged the Americans to act, laying the foundation for the Revolution.

The colonies first refused to pay the excessive levies, claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a government in which they had no representation. In response, Parliament retracted the taxes with the exception of a duty on tea, as it was important to emphasize the King's ability and right to tax the colonies. Conversely, if the Americans paid the tax on the imported tea they would be conceding England's right to tax them.

The crisis came to a head in Boston when over 5000 agitated locals milled about the wharf for days where three tea ships were docked. Angry and frustrated, a group of American colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded the British ships on December 16, 1773 and dumped all 300 plus crates of tea into the harbor. Similar incidents followed in New York , Maryland and New Jersey over the next few months and British tea

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