The History of Tea in America

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As tea went to Europe, the world will soon know the beverage much better. England has tried and transplanted tea into India and soon it will reach new worlds and new heights in popularity. Since tea went on to conquer the palate of the British people, it also spread all throughout the British colonies including colonies in America.

It was Peter Stuyvesant who first brought tea in 1650 to New York, then known as New Amsterdam. According to historians, settlers here are tea drinker and it was found out that the people here consumed more tea than all of England.

Boston became aware of tea only on 1670. New York then had commercialized the beverage and even put fountains outside to facilitate the “tea craze” as it is dubbed now. Soon, tea spread to the whole of Boston and Philadelphia, cities that will soon become center for rebellion against the mother country.

By 1750 tea has become a staple for trade between the colonies and England. Because of heavy taxes, enterprising American sailors started smuggling tea to the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Some people also adopted the herbal tea from Native Americans. This really irritated the East India Company as they saw their profits plummet. This led them to pressure parliament to do something about the situation.

Since the British had just finished the French and India war, they decided that the cost of the war should be shouldered by the colonists. The parliament’s Charles Townshend presented a tax for a lot of things that had to do with free speech. Newspapers were taxed, taverns (a place for free speech) were taxed and even marriage licenses, and docking licenses were taxed. When they decided to tax tea, that was the last straw for the colonists.

The colonists boycotted the English tea and imported tea from the Dutch, this worried the East India Company more as they saw their profits dip a bit more. The John Company and the East India Company merged for stability. Lord North, Lord of the Treasury granted the Tea Act of 1773. This act allowed the traders from the companies to deal directly with the colonists. Lord North actually thought to appeal to the aristocratic women to buy from them. This backfired as the women swore not to buy tea coming from them until their free rights were restored.

Here was when the Sons of Liberty from Boston came into the picture. In 1773 50 members of the political party, some dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded 3 merchant ships and plunked into the ocean almost 10,000 sterling worth of Darjeeling into the sea. Patriots like Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock were said to be present during this raid.

In retaliation, England closed off the Boston harbor and sent in troops to guard Boston. The colonial leaders had a meeting and the American Revolution was declared.

This was how tea got into the mix between two powers during that time. One aims to enslave and one was fighting for freedom and free trade.

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