This Week 252 Years Ago, Philadelphia Had Its Own ‘Tea Party’

You’re familiar with the Boston Tea Party, but did you know a similar event happened in Philadelphia?

On Dec. 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty threw a shipment of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act and Townshend Acts. The Townshend Acts had imposed taxes on goods imported to the American colonies, sparking anger from colonists fed up with taxation without representation. And the Tea Act was an effort by the British government to bail out the failing East India Company by creating a monopoly on the sale of tea in the colonies.

The colonists’ response in destroying the tea was viewed by the British government as an act of treason, and the incident was a turning point in the American Revolution.

But before Boston patriots tossed the tea, Philadelphia was already setting the stage for protest. On Oct. 16, 1773, prominent Philadelphians such as Benjamin Rush and Thomas Mifflin gathered at Independence Hall to create the Philadelphia Resolutions. This document detailed eight grievances against the British government, rejecting the imposition of taxes and stating that anyone supporting the East India Company in any way was “an enemy to his country.”

The document was adopted in Boston with Samuel Adams crediting the Philadelphia Resolutions: “The sense of the town cannot be better expressed on this occasion” than “by our worthy brethren the citizens of Philadelphia.” When all colonies except Massachusetts were able to convince the tea company’s local representatives to resign or return the tea to England, the issue escalated and resulted in the famous Boston Tea Party, in which 342 chests of tea were discarded.

A few days later, Philadelphians protested the arrival of the tea to their city. On Christmas Day, 1773, a ship named “Polly” was the first of seven that docked in Chester with Philadelphia’s shipment of tea. Philadelphians intercepted Captain Samuel Ayers, who helmed the ship, warning him not to unload his cargo. He was escorted into Philadelphia, where a committee gave him another warning.

Although the interaction was non-violent, likely due to the city’s Quaker influence, Philadelphians did prepare for the ship’s arrival by printing threats to tar and feather all parties involved:

The captain seemed to have understood the message clearly and sailed back to England with the tea.