Current Tea Parties Vs. The Boston Tea Party

As we briefly discussed in class, the original Boston Tea Party took place in 1773 just after the French and Indian war. During this particular time, Parliament wanted to collect money from its people in order to obtain enough money to cover the war expenses. However, the people being taxed felt no obligation to pay taxes to a government that did not represent them. The people did not select the government, and they were unaware of the places that their tax dollars would go. Therefore, multiple taxpayers started the Boston Tea Party, something that essentially encouraged the protest of taxes.

Today, there exist several more tea parties across the nation, but this time for different reasons. People are now mainly protesting on tax day because they feel that they should not have to pay larger tax dollars to cover other Americans’ debt. An article online includes various letters to the editor of Palm Beach Post. These letters are detailing the differences between the modern day tea parties to the Boston Tea Party. The letters state that, “the original ‘Tea Party’ was against taxation without representation. Today, voters ignore true representation. Protesters should fight for real honesty and openness when protesting high taxes. The voters, not the legislators, should determine which services should be reduced or eliminated in order to reduce taxes” (Katz). This letter is clearly from a position that believes that instead of protesting taxes, the modern day tea parties should focus on protesting the authority of the government just as people in 1773 did. However, other letter-writers disapprove of the current tea parties, stating that, “perhaps socialism is what is needed in this country. We have seen the major corporations, especially the financials, bleed the middle class almost dry...we are Americans, and we could probably do socialism far better than any country ever has” (Foster). It appears as if each letter promotes a different idea toward the modern-day tea parties. Some people, like Foster, completely disagree with the tea parties stating that the country may need a sense of added socialism. Other people, such as George McLellan, believe that tea parties should be held because Congress should be stopped from freely spending citizens’ money. Despite the different points of view, it still seems as if the modern day tea parties are similar to the Boston Tea Party in that people are rallying together to protest against taxes. The Boston Tea Party resulted in large amounts of tea thrown into the Boston Harbor by protesting colonists. These protesting colonists had some of their taxes repealed by the English government. They were then only required to pay a tea tax to essentially inform the colonists that they were still subject to British rule. The similarities between the tea parties now and then make me wonder whether the modern-day tea parties will ever have the same effect as the Boston Tea Party.