The Boston Tea Party Ship
and Museum is an interactive experience of the most significant
event leading to the American Revolution. On board the Brig
Beaver II - a full-sized replica of a tea party ship-
visitors will reenact the cold night on December 16th,
1773 when a group of patriots, disguised as native Americans,
raided three tea ships, dumping their cargoes over board and
into the Boston Harbor.
The raid was lead
by Boston Whigs and Sons of Liberty and arranged by patriot and
politician Samuel Adams. Adams, a native of Boston and graduate
of Harvard College, was actively involved in town meetings and
became a full-time politician in 1764 when he was elected to the
Massachusetts legislature. He adamantly opposed several laws
passed by British Parliament to raise revenue, including the Tea
Act which created a monopoly in tea importing to the colonies
and favored Britain’s East India Company.
The Tea Act in 1773 became
the most controversial law passed by the British Parliament at
the time, causing Boston colonists to rebel against the tax on
the tea. Their boycott reached its climax when a band of
colonists raided the British tea ships on Griffin’s Wharf,
dumping 342 tea chests into the harbor while shouting those now
famous words, "Taxation without representation."
The British Parliament
reaction to the colonists’ rebellion was the passing of the
"Intolerable Acts," a set of laws which closed the
Boston Harbor and restricted town meetings. As a result, Adams
implored the American Colonies to a general boycott on British
trade. Collection of taxes on imported tea failed in New York
City, Philadelphia, and Charleston, but only Boston rebelled by
dumping the British Company’s tea into its harbor.
Visitors to the Boston Tea
Party Ship and Museum will learn about the political and
economic conditions that lead to the colonists’ rebellious act
known as the Boston Tea Party. They will tour the authentically
restored galley, captain’s quarters and cargo hold and relive
December 16th 1773 through the words and images of
"Paul Revere Remembers."
Guests aboard the Brig
Beaver II will complete their dramatization of the Boston
Tea Party by throwing bales of tea over the side of the brig as
they shout "Taxation without representation."
The museum offers an
interactive exhibit on tea shipbuilding and the colonial pursuit
for a better way of life. An extensive gift shop contains the
largest selection of teapots in the city of Boston.
Hours:
Closed December through
March 1st and Thanksgiving Day
Spring & fall: 9a.m. -
5 p.m.
Summer: 9a.m. - 6 p.m.
Admission:
Adults: $8
Children ages 4 to 12: $4
(3 and under free)
Tours:
Every 30 minutes beginning
at 9:30 a.m.
Last showing at 5 p.m.
Parking:
Five minute walk from
South Station
Adjacent to the Children’s
Museum and public parking
BOSTON
TEA PARTY
ATTRACTIONS
