Of all the things being celebrated in December, there’s one that typically flies a bit under the radar: the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
This year represents the 250th anniversary of that protest and to mark the occasion, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture is presenting a double feature: A lecture exploring the course of events that led to the Boson Tea Party by historian Richard Bell, a professor of history at the University of Maryland, followed by an afternoon “Revolutionary” tea tasting. The event is part of a multi-year initiative to lead Virginia and the nation in marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Bell points out that the original event two centuries ago –a mob action in which 100 men looted three ships and destroyed private property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – was more terror plot than tea party. “To many people living back then, the events we now euphemize as the Boston Tea Party were nothing to be proud of,” Bell says.
Even so, the Boston Tea Party was hugely significant in that it brought about a draconian response from the British Parliament. Its 1774 Coercive Acts were so punitive that they radicalized many colonists, especially those beyond Boston, and helped them find a common cause. Says Bell, “Many scholars will tell you that the Boston Tea Party was the fuse that lit the American Revolution.”
One thing Bell makes clear is that the Tea Party was not just a local brawl about the price of a cup of tea, but something much bigger, broader, and more important. “Seen in global context, the 1773 Tea Party is the story of how an Asian commodity that was shipped halfway across the planet by the East India Company, the world’s first mega-corporation, brought about American independence,” he says.
His talk focuses on the 18th-century connections between Boston, London, Bengal, and Canton and how they led to the first major protest in America against the effects of globalization, monopoly power, and corporate greed. “The tea trade helped to make the East India Company into the largest, richest, and most powerful private enterprise in the world,” Bell says. “It was a massive conglomerate on the scale of Amazon or Apple today.”
Following the lecture, guests interested in tasting “revolutionary” tea can participate in Tea for 250, a limited-seating event that will feature Bohea tea, one of the most consumed types of black tea imported to North American colonies during the 18th century. Along with tea, scones and other tea treats from a local Richmond bakery will be served as guests are serenaded by period music. The vibe will be more relaxed than at a traditional high tea.
Michael Plumb, the museum’s vice president for guest engagement, explains that the VMHC believes that sometimes the best way to engage with the past is through the senses. “What better way to complete an afternoon commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party than tasting history with a cup of Bohea tea, one of the principal varieties of tea dumped into Boston harbor on Dec. 16, 1773?”
This commemorative program is just one in a series of engagement opportunities focused on the unique historical anniversaries leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. “By learning about the past in unexpected ways, like an historic tea tasting, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture hopes to bring more people on the journey to that important milestone, as they discover more about America’s founding and the origins of our revolutionary nation.”
Richmond is particularly fortunate to be able to celebrate an important anniversary like that of the Boston Tea Party with a talk and tea. Bell wrote his lecture several years ago as part of a book project he’s working on about the global dimensions of the American Revolution and has given it across the country at various museums and libraries since. “This is the first time I’ve delivered it on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party,” he says. “It’s an honor to be able to do so in Virginia, another important cradle of American independence.”
The 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party lecture and 18th-century Tea Tasting will be held on Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture at 428 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Tickets available at virginiahistory.org.
