250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

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The Dartmouth was commissioned to be built in 1767 as a cargo carrier/ whaleship with its maiden voyage being to London, England to deliver a shipment of whale oil.

As customary of the period during such voyages, a decree from Parliament made it so that American ships selling goods had to buy tea as part of their freight to return to the colonies. The captain of the Dartmouth unknowingly filled his ship with the now infamous British East India Company tea.

As the Dartmouth set sail to Boston, The Sons of Liberty were already rallying the troops back home leading protests that stopped the offloading of taxed cargo. On Nov. 28, 1773, the Dartmouth was the first ship with the cursed tea cargo to arrive in Boston, the owner Joseph Rotch’s son, 23-year-old Francis, had 20 days to unload his cargo and pay the tea tax before his ship would be seized to pay customs duties.

Unable to unload his cargo or leave the harbor without paying the tea tax, Rotch struggled with what to do with the looming deadline, as over 5,000 of Boston's residents demanded he return the cargo to London, a task he was not allowed to do without special permission from Boston's Governor. According to reports he stated, “Gentlemen, I can not. It is wholly impractical. It would cause my ruin.”

On the night before the deadline with the governor's refusal to give permission, the Sons of Liberty famously said "Who knows how tea will mingle with sea water?" thus commencing the preplanned act of treason. When thinly disguised Boston citizens boarded the ships in the harbor including the Dartmouth and methodically threw 342 chests of British Tea worth over $1M in today's money into the harbor.

The Dartmouth foundered in November of 1774 during a return voyage from London, the crew was rescued and returned to Boston.

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