BOSTON TEA PARTY SHIPS & MUSEUM

This museum looks back at the Boston Tea Party, a landmark event in American history often considered one of the triggers of the American Revolution. On December 16, 1773, settlers rebelled against the British Crown by dumping the tea cargo of three ships that had arrived in Boston into the harbor.

Passed a few months earlier in an already tense context, the Tea Act exempted the East India Company from taxes on tea sales in the colonies, giving it a monopoly and leading to the ruin of independent merchants. The Tea Act was seen as an injustice by the Americans who decided to boycott the East India Company. When three ships of this company arrived in Boston on December 16, 1773, the colonists prevented the unloading of the merchandise. That evening, 60 Americans dressed as Amerindians infiltrated the ships and dumped the 342 crates of tea overboard. Organized by the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization of American patriots, this event became the symbol of the rebellion against the British and the prelude to the country's independence.

In response to this act of rebellion, the British crown decided to close the port of Boston and demanded the return of the tea crates. It strongly reprimanded the Massachusetts colony by passing a series of laws deemed punitive by the colonists, who nicknamed them Intolerable Acts. Their purpose was the restoration of British authority in Massachusetts, but the colonists perceived them as a violation of their constitutional rights. The Boston Tea Party is thus considered the first official and organized act of protest by the settlers against the British Crown, and one of the events that led to the country's independence.

During the one-hour guided tour, you will be taken aboard a reconstructed ship from the 1770s. The tour is led by enthusiastic guides in period costumes, who add to the drama and lead the visitors overboard to throw the famous tea bags overboard! A fun and light-hearted way to learn about the history of the Boston Tea Party, from the early days of the revolt to the battles of Lexington and Concord that marked the beginning of the war. This museum is THE place to be in Boston. If you had to visit only one, it would be this one!