“The boycott was so successful by 1772, the British East India Company, the preeminent purveyor of tea to the Colonies, was soon in financial duress. Several members of the Royal family and a good number of members of Parliament owned shares of this enterprise. So, in May of 1773, in legislation obese with chicanery, Parliament passed the Tea Act granting the British East India Company a monopoly on importing any and all tea to the American colonies.

“The result of this blatant attempt to save the company—and the shareholders in London from bankruptcy—could have been foreseen by anyone not blinded by arrogance, greed, and self-interest. The harbor pilots, seamen, and dockworkers essential to berthing, loading, and unloading ships simply refused to handle any cargoes of British East India Company tea arriving in American ports on British ships.

“During November 1773, three British merchant ships—­Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor—arrived in Boston Harbor, carrying loads manifested as 92,000 pounds of British East India Company tea. The vessels languished at anchor, awaiting towboats and oar-men to be dispatched by the harbormaster to tug them into berths so their cargoes could be offloaded. The ‘tugs’ never came.

“The captains finally convinced their crews, if they wanted any shore leave before Christmas, they would have to lower their own longboats and pull the ships to Griffin’s Wharf themselves. The sailors did so. But the ‘dockers’ refused to unload the ­vessels—or allow collection of the mandatory Crown Customs Duty.

“Colonial officials urged Governor Hutchinson to send the ships back to Britain with the tea still aboard. He refused, a standoff ensued, and the ‘Sons of Liberty’ posted a watch on the pier to ensure the cargo was not unloaded.

“On the afternoon of December 16th, Samuel Adams called for ‘a meeting of Patriots’ at Old South Meeting House—a Puritan congregation’s place of worship and the largest building in Boston. More than 6,000 gathered for what began as a peaceful civil protest.

“But shortly before midnight, by which time most of the merchant sailors were ashore whoring and drinking voluminous quantities of rum in the port’s taverns, a band of about 140 Sons of Liberty sortied from the meeting house and headed for Griffin’s wharf.

“While thirty or so stood watch at the shore end of the pier, the rest of the ‘Sons,’ many garbed as Mohawk Indians, boarded the three vessels and unloaded the entire shipment of tea—into Boston Harbor. By dawn on the 17th all 342 chests of ruined tea were floating out to sea on the tide.4

“Infuriated by what he called ‘wanton destruction of private property,’ Governor Hutchinson ordered British troops to commence house-to-house searches of every domicile and commercial building in Boston believed to be hiding the perpetrators. Dozens of suspects were rounded up, but no witnesses could be found to testify that any of the accused participated in the crime.