Tea Thrown into Boston Harbor, 1773. Gift of Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, 1840.
Unitarian clergyman Reverend Thaddeus Harris of Dorchester presented this vial of tea to AAS in 1840 and also gave a second bottle to the Massachusetts Historical Society. According to the lore surrounding the bottles, Harris, or one of his parishioners, gathered the loose tea on Dorchester Neck where the currents carried the cargo that angry colonists had thrown from British ships on the night of December 16, 1773. Read more about the tea at AAS on Past Is Present.
Publication / Creation Year
1773