Author Terry Lee Marzell stands in front of the museum and gift shop erected near the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Photo credit: Hal Marzell
Summer vacation has arrived! What are your plans for your time off? Many teachers would agree that one of the best ways to spend summer vacation is travel. It’s a great way to expand personal horizons, improve teaching practices, and engage in experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations to achieve these goals is Boston, Massachusetts. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites related to our Colonial past available for touring in the city, and one of the most interesting of them is the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party.
The Boston Tea Party, which took place on Dec. 16, 1773, in Boston, was an act of protest organized by the patriotic group known as the Sons of Liberty. The action physicalized an objection to the Tea Tax imposed on the Colonials by the English Parliament. During the protest, the Americans, some dressed as Indigenous Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea waiting to be unloaded off ships anchored in the bay at Griffin’s Wharf. Chests of tea, which belonged to the East India Company, was thrown overboard into the brackish water, ruining the entire shipment. The action, which resulted in a loss that would equate to $4 million today, was declared treason by the British government, and their response was swift and harsh. The episode escalated hostilities that resulted in the American Revolution, which eventually resulted in the birth of our nation.
If visited in person, the Tea Party site offers a museum, a brief documentary about the Boston Tea Party, a gift shop, a tea house offering brews just like those that were thrown overboard, and a recreation of a period sailing vessel complete with a re-enactment of the original Boston Tea Party, conducted in an environmentally safe way, of course. The facility is open every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a fee to experience the re-enactment, and I would recommend reservations.
Recreation of a Colonial-era ship involved in the Boston Tea Party is available for examination by teachers, in person or by virtual tour, who wish to improve their instructional practices. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell
To explore the official Boston Tea Party website, click here. To share with your students an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party by participant George Hewes, click here. For access to virtual field trips related to the Boston Tea Party, as well as other related Revolutionary War events, click on this link for virtual field trips.
Whether you visit Boston’s Colonial sites in person on online, I bid you happy learning!
