The Boston Tea Party took place in 1773. However, this story begins much earlier, because this is a story of the foundation stone on which the American mind was grounded during the episodes leading up to and including the War for Independence and the formation of America's civil institutions. To understand the American mind during the founding era you could go back to the reformation and study Calvin, Luther, John Knox, Martin Bucer, Samuel Rutherford, and Phillipe de Mornay. In fact you could study the Feudal system of civil government with its emphasis on the decentralization of power. You could read the “City of God” by St. Augustine. Or back to 1^st Century Christianity, as outlined in the New Testament. You could learn about the Hebrew Republic of the Old Testament. In fact you could go back to the Garden of Eden, and the creation of Adam & Eve or even back to God's eternal decree.

For the sake of brevity this journey will begin on the shores of America. The genesis of local self-government in the colonies can probably be traced to 1620 and the Mayflower Compact. For the next 145 years there was a tug of war between the self-governing colonists and the tyrannical Parliaments of England, until it exploded into hot war at Lexington and Concord.

The give and take of this struggle began to come to a head when Parliament directed her representatives in the colonies to begin executing the Navigation Act, the Sugar Act and the arbitrary laws of trade. Shortly thereafter a scheme was launched to lay in internal tax on the colonies through the Stamp Act. This prompted the creation of The Sons of Liberty, which determined to resist the execution of the Stamp Act by all lawful means. James Otis, of The Sons of Liberty, “averred that 'one single act of parliament had set people a-thinking, in six months, more than they had in their whole lives before'. The thought was, that Americans might clothe themselves with their own hands, and be independent of a foreign supply”. It is important to realize that the leaders of the opposition to the tyranny of parliament were not revolutionaries. They maintained allegiance to the King of England for years while enduring the hardships orchestrated by parliament.

The Stamp Act was eventually repealed, but for European reasons rather than American reasons. The wiser leaders in the colonies were not so sure that the rejoicings of the vast body of Americans was in order over this “victory”. The repeal was accompanied by the passage of the Declaratory Act, which gave parliament the right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. Calls by The Sons of Liberty to continue ferment toward the Declaratory Act were unsuccessful, and they dissolved their associations and in large ceased their operations.

The king saw the repeal of the Stamp Act as a fatal compliance to the republicans of America. The next measure foisted on the Americans by the tyrants of England was the Townsend Revenue Acts, which imposed duties on glass, paper, painters' colors and tea. These acts were not meant to regulate trade they were designed to exert British sovereignty over the colonies. This prompted the reorganization of the Sons of Liberty, as popular opinion against the acts was great. The first order of business for the Sons of Liberty was to encourage the people to avoid tumults and disorder. They reminded the people that constitutional methods of redress were the best course of action. The Tories feared this orderly manner of dissent, understanding that this was a new and powerful political activity.

The unity against these taxes lead to a partial repeal of the Townsend Acts, leaving only the tax on tea. The Declaratory Act remained on the statute book as the king stated “there must always be one tax to keep up the right”. The leaders in the colonies regarded this partial repeal with contempt, settling nothing and only as evil. As the best means of final and complete repeal a non-importation agreement was urged among the colonies. This agreement proved impotent, to the glee of the Tories in both America and England. It was not until King George III imposed the Tea Act that the colonists came together against the tyranny of England.

The principle of love of liberty under law reigned in the hearts of Americans. Their devotion to justice was preeminent over faithfulness to a flag that was being used to assert despotic power over them. They deemed the exertion of taxes upon them by a body in which they had no constitutional representation as illegal. Therefore they shunned English tea, choosing, rather, to purchase their tea from Holland. Parliament countered by subsidizing British tea exports so that English tea could be sold cheaper than foreigners could supply it. The ministry in England believed they had solved the problem, thus tea shipments set sail for America. As Benjamin Franklin said, “They have no idea that any people can act from any other principle but that of interest; and they believe that three pence on a pound of tea, of which one does not perhaps drink ten pounds in a year, is sufficient to overcome all the patriotism of an American.” The Americans and the king were equally determined in this battle, and the Americans did not set themselves against this minor tax because they were poor, but because they were free and would not submit to wrong.

It became evident that this episode would manifest in Boston. The eyes of the colonies were fixed on the patriots there. Boston, along with the other seaport cities had spent a month admonishing the king's consignees to resign with no success when a ship arrived in the harbor on November 28. The patriots were determined to not allow the tea to be landed. The Governor would not allow the ships to return to sea without proper clearance from the consignees, and the consignees would not give clearance until all items subject to duty were disembarked. Twenty days after arrival in port a vessel was subject to seizure for the non-payment of duties. This would be the case of the Dartmouth, owned by Francis Rotch on the 16^th day of December.

A meeting called for the 14^th to address Mr. Rotch had been adjourned until the 16^th, and all that morning they dealt with him. He was informed that they expected him to procure a pass and set sail for London today, the meeting adjourned until 3:00PM. Rotch was unable to procure a pass from the governor. Returning to the meeting at 6:00 PM he informed the patriots of his lack of success in this matter. Slight disorder ensued, Thomas Young calmed the crowd by reminding them that Rotch was a good man and had done all in his power to satisfy the people, they were compelled to do no harm to him or his property. Samuel Adams then proclaimed, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” At this proclamation a group of men went to the vessels moored in the harbor. Warning their officers and those of the customhouse to keep out of the way they set to their business of unloading the tea. They were quiet and systematic workers, and no other property or persons were harmed, and no tea was carried away. The crowds on shore were silent. It was said that, “The whole was done with very little tumult”. John Scollay wrote about the incident, “We console ourselves that we have acted constitutionally”. They believed that they did no more than was necessary to prevent the tea from being landed. They saved the ship of Mr. Rotch from being confiscated by the tyrants and they maintained their resolve to eschew British tea.

Samuel Adams, like many of his stature, continued to proclaim their allegiance to England for another year, but from this point forward it was more out of hope than expectation that the English despots would reverse their policies toward the colonies. As a result of England's persistence, separation and independence were inevitable. All of America was finally united in their opposition to tyranny. It was not a revolutionary sentiment that brought them together; rather it was out of a Biblical understanding of the principle of “Lex Rex” (the law is king).