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Boston Tea Party Day

History · December 16

Boston Tea Party Day recalls the night colonists dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an act of protest against British taxation.

Boston Tea Party Day falls on Wednesday, December 16, 2026. That is 50 days away.

On a cold night in Boston, a group of colonists boarded ships in the harbor and tipped chest after chest of tea into the water. The Boston Tea Party was a protest against a British tax on tea, and it became one of the best known moments on the road to the American Revolution.

The details are vivid. Some of the men disguised themselves, loosely, as Mohawk warriors. They worked through the night, broke open the chests, and left the ships otherwise largely undamaged. The tea belonged to the British East India Company, and Parliament answered with harsh measures aimed at Massachusetts, which pushed the colonies closer together.

People mark the day by revisiting the story. Some read about it, some visit Boston's historic sites, and some simply brew a pot of tea and think about how much trouble one drink once caused. Schools often use it to explain the phrase "no taxation without representation," which captured the colonists' complaint that they paid taxes set by a Parliament where they had no vote.

It also says something about tea in early America. Tea was an everyday drink in the colonies, which is part of why a tax on it touched so many households. After the protest, some colonists turned to coffee and herbal brews instead.

Ways to celebrate

• Brew a cup of tea and read an account of the protest.
• Look up the phrase "no taxation without representation" and its meaning.
• Visit a local history museum or library exhibit on the Revolution.
• Try an herbal tea like the ones some colonists drank instead.
• Share the story with a child using a map of Boston Harbor.

Dates

All national days on December 16

Also on December 16

• National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
• Stupid Toy Day

Categories: History days