Episode 401: James Fichter, Tea, Boycotts, and Revolution

During the early days of the American Revolution, British Americans attempted to sway their fellow Britons with consumer politics.

In 1768 and 1769, they organized a non-consumption movement of British goods to protest the Townshend Duties. In 1774, they arranged a non-importation and non-exportation movement to protest the Tea Act and Coercive Acts.

Why did the colonists protest the Tea Act and Coercive Acts? Why did they chose to protest those acts with the consumer politics of a non-importation/non-exportation program?

James Fichter, the author of Tea: Consumption, Politics, and Revolution, 1773-1776, joins us to explore the Tea Crisis of 1773 and the resulting non-importation/non-exportation movement the colonists organized after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios.

Episode Summary

James Fichter is a historian and associate professor at the University of Hong Kong. He’s also the author of Tea: Consumption, Politics, and Revolution, 1773-1776. He joins us to explore the Tea Crisis of 1773 and the resulting non-importation/non-exportation movement the colonists organized after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts.

During our exploration, James reveals information about early Americans’ taste for tea and the origin of the early American “tea craze”; The stories we learned about the Tea Crisis and Boston Tea Party and what historical sources have to say about the reality of those events; And, details about the Continental Association and the non-importation/non-exportation program it outlined for 1775 and 1776.

What You’ll Discover

Early Americans’ taste for tea by 1773
Origins of the “tea craze” in Great Britain & Early America
The relationship between trade and British imperial politics
Why Early Americans struggled to get trade goods they wanted
Tea smuggling
English and British Navigation Acts
The Tea Act of 1773
Tea consignees and the propaganda about them
The Tea Crisis of 1773
Tea as a symbol of British identity
Chestertown, Maryland Tea Party
The American turn away from tea
The Continental Association and its boycott of British goods
Shaping the messaging of the Tea Crisis and Boston Tea Party
Boston as an outlier of revolutionary action
The Boston Port Act, 1774
Harvard University Tea Riot, 1775
Impact of the Continental Association boycott

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Time Warp Question

What if the Boston Tea Party and other tea protests had really led to a significant reduction in tea consumption among British American colonists? If the colonists had truly given up their tea in protest of the Tea Act, how might this have altered the course of the American Revolution?