On December 16, 1773, a meeting was organized by the Sons of Liberty and chaired by Samuel Adams at Boston’s Old South Meeting House. The meeting was one of a series that had been organized to address the considerable objections of the colonists to the Tea Act. After Adams announced, “This meeting can do nothing further to save the country,” a band of between 30 and 130 men, some thinly disguised as American Indians, left the meeting bound for Boston Harbor. The men then boarded the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water to protest both the tax and the manner in which it had been imposed.
This was the Boston Tea Party. Its participants are our philosophical forebearers—common people standing up against the intrusion of government and the unfair imposition of taxes.
The Steamboat Institute is a proud supporter of the 1773 Club, a grassroots organization in Steamboat Springs, Colorado dedicated to the Founding Principles of this country. The organization is named in honor of the brave patriots who participated in the Boston Tea Party. The 1773 Club has organized multiple Tea Parties and Rallies and meets on a regular basis to discuss issues, educate on current matters affecting our country, and inspire active participation in supporting our principles.
