The Charleston Tea Party

Two Hundred and Fifty Years ago, Charleston had a Tea Party to protest the tax on tea that Great Britain was wanting to impose. When you are furious about a matter, often manners go out the window; but not in Charleston. 18th century Charlestonians were known for being discreet. This discretion could be seen in their architecture, namely the Charleston Single House, and in the furniture made here, not showy but with clean lines and restrained inlay. A little goes a long way. 

The restraint Charlestonians showed was very natural and yet did not keep them from being courageous on December 3, 1773. Tea arrived aboard a ship called the London; however, Charlestonians had already decided not to order or to receive any tea. To give up drinking tea then would be the equivilent to Americans giving up drinking coffee today! America then drank more tea than all of Great Britain. What was this tea doing here? A merchant had ordered it and accompanied the shipment! Charlestonians met at the docked ship, by bright morning light. A sprinkling from a chest of tea christened the Charleston Bay, and Charlestonians, with unveiled faces, unashamed to be recognized for who they were, then dispersed and went about their business as usual. The rest of the tea went unclaimed; unclaimed cargo could be stored until it was claimed. It was stored by local authorities in the Old Exchange Building Provost Dungeon. Later after July 4, 1776, the tea was remembered, sold by Charlestonians, who then had tea to drink and money coming in to support the American cause! 

Parliament had passed the Tea Act and the Townsend Act imposing taxes on goods shipped to America. It was not that the tea was so expensive; it was actually less even with the tax than local merchants could get it themselves from India without going through Great Britain. England’s East India Company had a monopoly on tea against whom no one could compete. 

What was the protest about, if the tea from England was less expensive than we could buy it ourselves? What is a little tax if you cannot tell it is there in the overall price difference? ”A little yeast leavens the whole batch.” It was the PRINCIPLE of being taxed without being represented. We think this idea was birthed in response out of the Thirteen American colonies at the time. The idea which birthed the American Revolution actually came from the Thirteenth Century Magna Carta! The 13 and the 13! (Only God could bring about such an alignment with the 13 century Magna Carta from 1215 at Runnymede, England with Bad King John, which provided the foundation for our 13 Colonies, centuries later.)

“13” was unlucky to Great Britain, not to us! They LOST their 13 colonies. We won our Independence!

There were Tea Party Protests up and down the East Coast, but the Boston Tea Party Dec 16, 1773 after the Charleston Tea Party was the most famous. You can imagine Charlestonians were shocked if not appalled at the Bostonians’ flagrant rebellion and disregard for the value of the tea and for British authority. 340 chests of British East India Tea company tea weighing over 92,000 pounds, roughly 46 tons, on board the tea clippers, Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor were smashed open with axes by the Sons of Liberty disguised as Native Americans with painted faces. All the tea was dumped into the Boston Harbor that night under the cover of darkness. The cargo was worth more than One Million, Seven Hundred Dollars in today’s money! Charlestonians feared for Boston. They were ASKING FOR IT! What would Great Britain’s response be to this defiance and waste? Great Britain closed the port of Boston; no shipping was allowed in or out of the colony. Great Britain could not afford to blockade the port of Charleston as well. Charleston was considered the wealthiest city in the whole wide world at that time. At least 300 ships could be seen at anchor awaiting dockage in a single day in the Charleston Harbor, while all the wharfs were lined with ships. The Tea clippers like the Cutty Sark were the fastest of them all. Charleston decided to have a show of solidarity with Boston with ANOTHER tea party protest AND to send more goods and aid to Boston by land than any other colony. 

To commemorate this Charleston Tea Party 250th Anniversary, there were speakers and a reenactment. I had a black tie party at my house December 3, 2023, 250 years to the day, with Wassail (mulled cider) in the silver punch bowl, and champagne corks popping. My hot sweet potato scones with ham were passed, while my sugar/salt cured, hickory smoked, deep water grouper was on the table like the Native Americans would have taught the colonists to preserve. Hamby’s shrimp tea sandwiches came from this caterer, for which they are famous. Friends baked pumpkin Ginger breadmen from my pureed pumpkin, and Pecan “Sands”. My friend, Dr Bill Aldridge, made Baklava with honey from his own hives! When Charleston celebrates the 300 anniversary in another 50 Years, may someone have kept a record of our 250th anniversary celebration! We had toasts concerning this history, including the fact that South Carolina had more battles and battlefields than any other colony: Great Britain fought harder to keep us than any other colony. 

In my toast I was asked to give a quote I have memorized from George Washington’s Inauguration:

“Propitious smiles from Heaven,

can never be expected on a nation

that disregards Eternal rules of Order and Right,

which Heaven has ordained.

The Preservation of the Sacred Fires of Liberty

is the experiment

entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

Come while the first of the spring flowers are coming into bloom; the camellias peak in February. The bulbs come up now as well.  Charleston gardens were designed to peak in February historically, the highlight of the social season, the horse Races! The Races were around Washington Race Course, now the beautiful large public garden of Hampton Park. Charlestonians were the breeders of the most magnificent thoroughbreds in the world. Charleston is a showplace in the dead of winter that is still America’s best kept secret. It looks like spring here when it is the bleak midwinter elsewhere. The Valentine theme is all month, especially at my tea parties!

The Spirit and the Holy City say, COME!

Laura Wichmann Hipp

843-708-2228 Call to make reservation for the Charleston Tea Party Private Tour