Reaction in Philadelphia to the Tax on Tea
The Tea Act of 1773 Met Different Kinds of Resistance in Each City
The Tea Act of 1773, enacted by Parliament, was meant to rescue the British East India Company from bankruptcy. Although the act was a watered-down version of previous laws, it still levied a tax on tea related only to America. Since the Colonies were not represented in Parliament, they saw the Act as unconstitutional. The tea would be boycotted. The Boston Tea Party is the most well-known result of this protest.
As soon as the Tea Act passed, ships sailed from England, bound for every port in America. Word of the Act reached America before the ships did, giving the colonists time to formulate a plan of action. Since the tax was imposed, the colonists would not purchase the tea. But what to do about these ships? Up and down the eastern seaboard the port cities had a little time to prepare a plan.
Philadelphians Resolve Not to Receive the Tea
On October 18, 1773, a public meeting was held in Philadelphia to discuss the issue. Great numbers of people attended, and the meeting resolved not to allow the tea into the city. The key points were:
- Disposal of their own property is the inherent right of freemen, and any government levy against property must be approved by the property holders. They had not consented to the tax and it was therefore illegal.
- Parliament, in enacting a tax meant to support American institutions, had rendered American elected assemblies useless and introduced “arbitrary government and slavery.”
- “Virtuous and steady opposition…is absolutely necessary…and…a duty…if a shadow of liberty” is to be preserved, the duty owed by every freeman “to his country, to himself, and to his posterity.”
- “That the resolution lately entered into by the East India Company to send out their tea to America, subject to the payment of duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce this ministerial plan, and a violent attack on the liberties of America.”
- That anyone who aided in “unloading, receiving, or vending” the tea was an enemy to his country.
They chose a committee to convince the colonists who were supposed to receive the tea “to resign their appointment.” The East India Company’s plan was backfiring. Would the tea bound for Philadelphia end up in the Delaware River?
The Committee Changes the Agents’ Minds
The committee quickly went about their work. The agents who had been appointed consignees of the tea were called on. The committee argued that receiving the tea was detestable—an abhorrence, and the landing and selling of the tea would bring about an undesirable result.
Some of the commissioners resigned outright; others equivocated. Yet, after a few days they all resigned. No one in Philadelphia would receive the shipment that was even then sailing closer to their port. The organizers of the protest were still concerned, however, and called another public meeting to determine what to do next. One consignee was coming aboard the ship. They agreed that the tea must not be landed, and expanded the committee that would deal with the ship.
Peaceful Resolution – the Tea Ship is Turned Back
The tea ship finally arrived at Chester, just down river from Philadelphia, on December 25, 1773. Next day the Philadelphian who accompanied the cargo across the ocean was convinced to resign his commission. Committee members then went to meet the ship, which unfortunately had weighed anchor and was continuing up-river.
A large group of citizens and committee members went to Gloucester Point and hailed the ship. The captain came ashore at their request and was escorted into Philadelphia by the local delegation, encountering angry citizens along the way. There the committee worked to convince the captain not to proceed further and try to unload the tea, that trying to doing so would present “dangers and difficulties.” He no longer had any local agents willing to accept the tea, so the captain agreed to turn back, cargo still in the hold. The committee agreed, however, to allow the ship to be reprovisioned for its return voyage.
By Monday afternoon, December 27th, the crisis was resolved. No tea was landed at the customhouse, nor did it end up in the Delaware River. The circumstances were much different than in Boston. The public meeting did, however, commend the Bostonians for their “resolution in destroying the tea rather than suffering it to be landed.”
Sources:
The Annals of America, Vol. 2, pages 242-245; Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968
Hezekiah Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America, pages 170-172; pub. By William Edgar Niles, 1822.
The Colonists Hated the Tax on Tea
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Philadelphia Defuses the Tea Crisis Peacefully
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