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Exactly 250 years ago, on Dec. 16, 1773, a gang of rowdies, some dressed as Mohawk braves, boarded three merchant ships in Boston Harbor and, over three hours, dumped 342 chests of tea into the cold waves. A new law had, in fact, lowered the price of tea, but they still resented paying a token levy on it. Everyone knows the American Revolution began as a taxpayer revolt. What not everyone realizes is that that taxpayer revolt started on the other side of the Atlantic. Great Britain had had to whack up taxes to pay for the French and Indian...

On the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, a crowd of armed men, some allegedly wearing costumes meant to disguise them as Native American warriors, boarded three ships docked at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston. In the vessels’ holds were 340 chests containing 92,000 pounds of tea, the most popular drink in America. With support from the patriot group known as the Sons of Liberty, the intruders methodically searched the ships and dumped their tea into Boston Harbor. According to the British East India Company, whose proprietors owned the destroyed cargo, losses totaled more than a million dollars in today’s currency. The...

At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday December 16, 1773, a group of between 100 and 150 Americans raided three East India Company merchantmen moored in Boston and threw 92,000 lb of tea (worth $1.7 million in today’s terms) into the harbor. A central part of the American founding story, the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is being commemorated this month as a key moment when patriotic Americans fought back against the greedy British and their oppressive taxation policies that forced up prices on commodities such as tea, which in turn led to the American Revolution. But the truth is...

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A Jefferson Middle School teacher was placed on administrative leave after a planned reenactment of the Boston Tea Party was determined to be offensive. According to the Madison Metropolitan School District, the school principal stopped the history lesson from happening after determining it was “not consistent with the district’s vision, commitment to equity, cultural responsiveness, and was outside the scope of the district curriculum.” In a statement, MMSD explained the teacher, whose name was not released, was placed on administrative leave, as per district policy, until officials complete an internal review of the incident. Administrators also...

One of the most galling and misleading arguments tossed around following the death of George Floyd is an attempt to draw a parallel between the carnage sweeping the nation and the Boston Tea Party.In this clumsy effort, “riot” has become just the latest word twisted for political purposes. Merriam-Webster defines “riot” as: A violent public disorder; specifically: a tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with a common intent. It takes an impressive level of historical illiteracy to describe the Boston Tea Party as a “riot.” And while the spread of bad...

The Founding Fathers wisely added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to explicitly prohibit Government from doing things it isn't authorized to do. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the most important provisions: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Constitution doesn't authorize using a pandemic to prohibit the free exercise of religion or to...

Today marks the 246th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party when American patriots, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor in protest. You’re probably somewhat familiar with this seminal event but you may not be with the story of those behind it. The “Sons Of Liberty” flag shares its origin with the participants, their call of no “taxation without representation,” imbued a national character and revolutionary spirit that echoes to this very day. It inspires us to not exist quietly as mere subjects of our own government, or any...

•President Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth, Vt., on July 4, 1872. He is the only president born on July 4; however, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July. •One lucky Philadelphian purchased a $4 picture at a flea market. Behind the picture was an original 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence. It was sold to TV producer Norman Lear for $8.1 million. •After the war, King George III rationalized that Washington would become a dictator and make the Americans yearn for royal rule. When he was told that Washington planned to...

It could never happen here, right? Boston – National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed by elements of a Para-military extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw. Speaking after the clash, the Massachusetts Governor declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement. The Governor blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the...

Seattle City Council president Tim Burgess is proposing a new tax on guns. The proposal would tax gun sales $25 per gun and add a five cent-tax on each round of ammunition. Five cents per round adds up to a roughly $2.50 increase for a box off handgun ammunition. The legislation would also impose a $500 fine on gun owners who do not report guns lost or stolen.

I’m not what you would characterize as a typical fan of opera, be it of the buffa or not-so buffa variety. In fact, when a close friend of mine-who also happens to be a classically trained pianist-asked me whether the opera I intended to see today was dell’arte, I had to make a trip to Wikipedia in order to answer her question. As it turns out, it did include a number of masques, all of which had either practical or symbolic significance, although it didn’t rely upon stock characters, and is not really what you could accurately describe as a...

How many times do I have to write about the problems discovered in Common Core teaching? This time it deals with Pearson Education, one of the leading companies that helps develop and train Common Core teaching. According to their website: “As the leading education services company, Pearson is serious about evolving how the world learns. We apply our deep education experience and research, invest in innovative technologies, and promote collaboration throughout the education ecosystem. Real change is our commitment and its results are delivered through connecting capabilities to create actionable, scalable solutions that improve access, affordability, and achievement.” [Emphasis mine]...

The Boston Tea Party (initially referred to by John Adams as "the Destruction of the Tea in Boston"[2]) was a nonviolent political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. Disguised as American Indians, the demonstrators destroyed the entire supply of tea sent by the East India Company in defiance of the American boycott of tea carrying a tax the Americans had not authorized. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution.

Today marks the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when a group of men from the Sons of Liberty, disguised as indians, threw an entire shipment of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act, a tax levied on the colonies by the British Parliament. The Boston Tea Party was one of several actions which eventually led to the American Revolution and our independence. In honor of those colonists who had the courage to act, we raise the Sons Of Liberty banner with the American Flag.

“A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation’s busiest port,” wrote the teachers in charge of organizing the curriculum about the Boston Tea Party. “Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed in disguise and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities.

I got an email yesterday from a friend wondering if I was interested in going to an anti-ObamaCare rally in Boston. To be honest, I didn't want to go. I was still fairly glum about the Supreme Court decision regarding ObamaCare. There were a lot of things today I would have much rather been doing. But I have been grousing so often to friends and acquaintances about this decision, I didn't feel as though I had any choice. So I went. It was a small crowd (I am guessing in the range of 50-100) but they had some speakers who...

THIS IS WHAT A MOB LOOKS LIKE October 5, 2011 by ANN COULTER I am not the first to note the vast differences between the Wall Street protesters and the tea partiers. To name three: The tea partiers have jobs, showers and a point. No one knows what the Wall Street protesters want -- as is typical of mobs. They say they want Obama re-elected, but claim to hate "Wall Street."You know, the same Wall Street that gave its largest campaign donation in history to Obama,who, in turn, bailed out the banks and made Goldman Sachs the fourth branch...

Occupy Boston — the latest fist-shaking, sick-of-politics-as-usual movement — has a lot to learn, the founder of the Greater Boston Tea Party said about the new protest group that has been camped out downtown since Friday. “I feel bad for them,” Tea Party boss Christen Varley said. “They have no charter, no mission statement. They are talking about anarchy, but they are in chaos.” .... As of yesterday, the loosely organized group calling itself Occupy Boston — inspired like others nationwide by the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street — had failed to develop a mission statement or goals. The group calls...

Do you realize our country, the country many of us loved, and were willing to lay down our lives for, is no more? Don’t despair my fellow refugees and citizens of our beloved former America, but please do come to terms with the fact that our country was ill and dying for decades and it has now ceased to exist as we once knew it. Nevertheless, this is not intended as an essay of gloom, but as a signpost denoting the reality of where we are, and an ensign for some, of the second American Revolution that has already begun...