The Boston Tea Party Turns 250 and Raises 21st-Century Questions

On Saturday, just as they do every day, a group of costumed people will storm aboard three replicas of 18th-century wooden ships docked in Boston and enthusiastically throw a bunch of tea into the harbor.

But this time, those who gather at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum to re-enact the most famous riot in American history will not be everyday tourists. And they will have plenty of reinforcements.

Before the dumping, hundreds of Bostonians will gather at the Old South Meeting House to restage the raucous gathering on Dec. 16, 1773, of citizens outraged by what they saw as illegitimate taxes and other oppressive measures imposed by the British. Outside, they will be joined by thousands for a fife-and-drum-fired “rolling rally” to the wharf, where costumed re-enactors will dump nearly 2,000 pounds of tea donated from all over the world.

The 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is the first major beat in the run-up to the celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial in 2026. For Boston, it is a chance to spiff up its monuments and bring plenty of visitors to town.

But for some planners, the anniversary is also a moment to pose some challenging questions. How do we celebrate the fight for liberty in a period when many Americans, including in Boston, were enslaved? And how do we really feel about protest, violence and revolution today?

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