Episode Details

How did early Americans go from hosting social tea parties to hosting protests like the Boston Tea Party?

Tea played a central role in the economic, cultural, and political lives of early Americans. As such, tea came to serve as a powerful symbol of both early American culture and of the American Revolution.

In this episode of the Doing History: To the Revolution series, Jane Merritt, Jennifer Anderson, and David Shields take us on an exploration of the politics of tea during the era of the American Revolution.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/160

Sponsor Links

• Omohundro Institute
• William and Mary Quarterly-Journal of the Early Republic joint issue on the American Revolution $10 promotion
• The Great Courses Plus (1 Free Month)

Complementary Blog Posts

• John Fea, "The Greenwich Tea Burning: The Political and Religious Roots of Local Revolutionary Resistance"

Complementary Episodes

• Episode 043: Matthew Osborn, Rum Maniacs: Alcoholic Insanity in the Early American Republic
• Episode 106: Jane Kamensky, The World of John Singleton Copley
• Episode 111: Jonathan Eacott, India in the Making of Britain and America, 1700-1830
• Episode 112: Mary Beth Norton, The Tea Crisis of 1773
• Episode 135: Julie Holcomb, Moral Commerce: The Transatlantic Boycott of the Slave Labor Economy
• Episode 156: The Power of the Press in the American Revolution

Helpful Show Links

• Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page
• Join the Ben Franklin's World Community
• Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter
• Ben Franklin's World iOS App
• Ben Franklin's World Android App

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices