250 years ago, on December 16th 1773, an event happened that shocked an Empire and fired the starting pistol for the American Revolution. At the time it was known simply as the Destruction of the Tea, an act that shook the world from Bengal to Britain to Boston.
In this specially made film to mark the anniversary, History Hit's Dan Snow travels from Massachusetts to London to explore this global story. What was really happening in the taverns and meeting houses of Boston, the corridors of power in Westminster and the tea trading offices of India? Dan investigates the micro and macro aspects of the story, talking with leading experts about the minutiae of this deliberate act of disobedience and the bigger picture of politics, trade and a web of financial interests that spread right across the globe.
Find out how the rumblings of malcontents in Massachusetts, coupled with a multinational's financial failings and the British government's colonial mismanagement combined to change history.
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In this film we have worked with some excellent experts and institutions. For more information do visit the following sites:
John Bell: John curates the Boston 1775 website - History, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.
https://boston1775.blogspot.com/
Bob Allison: Suffolk University, Boston and Chair of Revolution 250 in Massachusetts
https://www.robertallisonhistory.com
The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/
Revolutionary Spaces who run several historic sites in Boston, including the Old State House and Old South Meeting House:
https://revolutionaryspaces.org/
The Benjamin Franklin House in London
https://benjaminfranklinhouse.org/
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