The Boston and New York Tea Parties
One day before the Boston Tea Party, on December 15, 1773, 200 merchants, lawyers, and other businessmen signed a petition in New York opposing the importation of tea. “The petition boldly proclaimed "execution of that Act, involves our slavery, and would sap the foundation of our freedom, whereby we should become slaves to our brethren...born to no greater stock of freedom than the Americans-the merchants and inhabitants of this city, in conjunction with the merchants and inhabitants of the ancient American colonies, entered into an agreement to decline a part of their commerce with Great Britain, until the above-mentioned Act should be totally repealed.”
On December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party occurred. 342 chests of tea were thrown overboard into Boston Harbor from a ship belonging to the British 
Boston Tea PartyEast India Company. It was a political protest against the Tea Tax that Parliament levied upon the Colonists and the perceived notion that the East India Company had a monopoly on the tea trade. The Colonists were also angry about not being represented in Parliament, so it was also a protest against “Taxation without Representation”. This was one of the first acts of defiance by the Colonists and started them on the road to Independence.
Paul Revere notified the New York Sons of Liberty of the Boston Tea Party on December 20th. A ship called The Nancy, carrying 698 chests of tea, double 
New York Tea Partythe amount that was destroyed in Boston, was heading to New York Harbor. The Sons of Liberty sent a letter to the captain of the ship warning him, “of the determined Revolution of the Citizens not to suffer the Tea on board of his Ship to be landed.” The governor of New York, William Tryon, assured the Earl of Dartmouth that the tea could be safely stored and protected, even if they needed to use deadly force, such as cannons and bayonets. Fortunately, the tea was never unloaded. Governor Tryon came to an agreement with the Sons of Liberty, and the ship was sent back, with the Sons of Liberty paying for its provisions for the return trip. Eighteen chests of tea were discovered on another ship named The London. Those were thrown overboard and destroyed.
