Boston Tea Party

On this day in 1773, a large group of the Sons of Liberty, led by patriot Samuel Adams, board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. Of course, their nighttime raid became known as the “Boston Tea Party,” and was witnessed by thousands.

The Sons disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians to signal an end to their British subjection. The “Party” was, in fact, a protest of the Tea Act of 1773. This tyrannical Act of taxation was designed to allow the East India Company to undercut the rest of the tea market. Samuel Adams saw this British tea monopoly as identical to a tax, and ultimately, taxation without representation.

The ninety thousand pounds of dumped tea was worth more well over one million of today’s dollars.

Patriotic Protest

It is especially noteworthy that no damage was done to any ships, nor were any crew members injured. In fact, the next day, the ‘partiers’ replaced the lone padlock they broke. Now that’s why the Boston Tea Party was a patriotic protest.

Wear Our Samuel Adams shirt to your next party, or your next protest, for that matter:

 

Boston Tea Party

Samuel Adams on voting

On this day in 1772, the HMS Gaspee, an armed British customs schooner runs aground off the Rhode Island coast. It was in pursuit of the Hanna, an American smuggling ship.

In what could be regarded as the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, as many as 67 colonists, angered by British Parliament’s Townshend Acts, board the Gaspee. They subsequently shoot its captain in the abdomen, send him and his crew to shore, and set the ship aflame.

The resulting “Gaspee Affair” intensified British-American relations and prompted Boston Patriots to found the first Committee of Correspondence. These inter-colonial committees publicized the anti-British activity that occurred throughout colonies and British plans to restrict Americans rights. These lines of communication laid the foundation for a new national unity.

Of course, Samuel Adams was the one who organized this first committee.

A Solemn Trust

Similarly, it is Mr. Samuel Adams who inspired Our first t-shirt with the quote below, which we the people should bear in mind for the 2018 elections:

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”

‘Correspond’ this voting wisdom with your ‘committee,’ and get your shirt HERE:

Samuel Adams on Voting Accountability t-shirt

 

 

 

Samuel Adams Paul Revere artwork

On this day in 1775, the famous ride of American patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes helps Samuel Adams and John Hancock evade capture by British troops.

British troops marched out of Boston on a mission to confiscate American weapons and gunpowder at Concord. They are also determined to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock at Lexington.

So, Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from Boston to warn Adams and Hancock. They also alerted the Minutemen, who had armed themselves and were prepared for the British.

The American Revolution begins early in the morning of the following day, with the “shot heard around the world.”

As Illustrated By…

Below is a side-by-side of the engraved bust portrait of Samuel Adams by Paul Revere and the Our Lost Founding shirt inspired by it. Thankfully, they sold well leading up to the November 2016 election, and beyond. These Founding Fathers continue to remind us all that when we vote we are “accountable to God and… Country.”

Find yours in the shop, HERE.

Samuel Adams Paul Revere artwork