This 4th of July, it’s more important now than ever to remember our Founding and the reasons for it. One key event that helped spark our Revolution was the Boston Tea Party. Yes, it was about tea and taxes. But at its heart it was about FREEDOM.

My husband and I had the opportunity to visit Boston and walk The Freedom Trail. The sheer amount of history along that trail that speaks directly to the freedoms that we enjoy today is something too many Americans do not know about or have forgotten. 

We toured Paul Revere’s home and visited The North Church, both of which were smaller than you’d think in size. In stature and history however, both speak to Boston’s importance and the critical role all played in the birth of this Republic. 

We toured the USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” and realized that, in such a small space men fought with all their might for theirs and subsequently our freedom. We trekked up to Bunker Hill and realized that the “hill” in question would’ve at that time had quite the vantage point and view across Boston. 

But it was our visit to the Boston Tea Party museum and ships that really brought home to us why this entire grand experiment we call the United States wasn’t really about tea. It wasn’t completely about the taxes on tea and everything else. It was about our freedom. 

As part of the experience, we sit in a meeting house. We are them. We are the Bostonians who had had enough of British overreach and King George’s edicts that were causing extreme hardship on our lives. Sound familiar? 

This was about King George and Parliament telling us that only they had the power to dictate how our lives would be run. You will put up or shut up. Speak out more, let’s dump additional taxes upon you and see how you manage. 

You want to have a say in how your government runs things? No, and we’ll penalize you for it. You want to ship the goods and services we demand over to Britain? Great, YOU pay for the cost of shipping. You speak out against the unjustness of it all? King George will tax everything in sight if you step out of line.

It was taxation without representation. It was taxation as retribution for daring to speak one’s mind against the prevailing political climate. Sound familiar?

During that time, British troops were not only already in Boston, but more were on the way. Guess what? Bostonians would receive a knock on the door. You will house these troops, period. You will pay and not be reimbursed. You don’t like it? Lump it or we will either throw you in jail or haul you in court for treason. That is EXACTLY why we have a Third Amendment. 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Those Patriots who participated in the events of that night and dumped thousands of pounds of tea overboard remained anonymous for years. We know now of 116 involved, but there were many more, and quite a number of Bostonians watched that night as the tea was dumped overboard. 

I like to think that, given the close proximity of my Dodge ancestors to Boston; they lived in the Salem/Essex area at the time, that there were at least one or two Dodges present and watching as tea was dumped overboard. 

The Boston Tea Party was about tea. But it was about so much more. It was about taxes levied without a care or thought to the adverse economic impact and the repercussions from that. Sound familiar California?

It was about a government who firmly believed that they and only they had the power. It was about a government that knew best for the citizens it ruled over. The government is here to guide you, direct you, and make sure you stay in your lane. A trial by jury? Not happening. Altering or abolishing laws without consent, and trying colonists on made up charges is your punishment for daring to question those in power. 250 years later, this sounds eerily familiar doesn’t it? 

By the time December 16, 1773 rolled around, the people had had enough. The colonists were being governed without their consent, and it was time for it to stop.

340 chests of tea were dumped overboard that night. Today’s cost would’ve been about $1.7 million dollars. One notable part of this event was that none of the ships were damaged, and not one item was stolen.

What happened after that is the first battle of the American Revolution at Lexington. Which also led to the best breakup letter of all time, our Declaration of Independence. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

The Boston Tea Party was about tea. Yet it was about so much more. It was ultimately about Freedom and our unwillingness to be governed by arbitrary whim, laws that penalize, and the encroachment upon our Life, Liberty, and Honor.

250 years later should and we must remember WHY we are a Constitutional Republic so we can safeguard our future for all of us. 

Feature Photo Credit: Declaration of Independence and Betsy Ross flag via iStock, cropped and modified