Robert J. Allison
1773: What Else Happened Besides the Tea Party?
December 16, 1773, Bostonians destroyed three cargoes of East India Tea in one of the greatest acts of civil disobedience of all time, and the event that precipitated the Revolution. But why did this become such an important event? We will discuss the political background to the Destruction of the Tea, and why Massachusetts was already on the road to rebellion, and other events, related and not, to the drama of the Tea Party (as it would not be called for another half-century). Why was this such a big deal?
The professional recording of this session was funded by a Preserving America grant from Americana Corner.
[Recorded on 12 August 2023]
Robert J. Allison, Ph.D. (robertallisonhistory.com), is a Professor of History at Suffolk University in Boston. He chairs Revolution 250 (revolution250.org), a consortium of organizations and individuals exploring the history of the American Revolution and the ways that this story still resonates in society two and a half centuries later. Allison is also the President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. His books include short histories of the American Revolution, Boston, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the debates over the U.S. Constitution, as well as longer books on Stephen Decatur and Olaudah Equiano and The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World 1776–1815 (University of Chicago Press). His lecture series on the Age of Franklin and on Colonial America are available through Great Courses.
