On December 16, 1773, members of the revolutionary group the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, destroyed an entire shipment of tea from the British East India Company. This was done in protest of the Tea Act of May 10 of that year, which enforced the unpopular Townshend Acts—a series of laws which allowed England to tax the Colonies without fair representation in Parliament. Protesters cast chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an act of defiance which helped spark the Revolutionary War and has left an indelible mark upon American history.
Could your ancestors have witnessed or participated in the Boston Tea Party? The resources below will help you verify your connection to New England at the start of the Revolution.
Search for your ancestors in databases related to Boston and New England during the Revolutionary War.
Hampden County, MA: Black Families in Hampden County, 1650-1865
Massachusetts: Divided Hearts, Massachusetts Loyalists, 1765-1790
Massachusetts: Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards, 1733-1990
Massachusetts: Legislators of the General Court, 1691-1780
Massachusetts: Miscellaneous Census Substitutes, 1630-1788, 1840, 1890
Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850
Society of Colonial Wars in Massachusetts Membership Applications, 1560-1970
The following databases are made available to our members through our partner organizations. You must have an American Ancestors/NEHGS membership to access. Learn More
Early American Newspapers, Series I, 1690-1876
Join Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff for a revelatory look at her new work exploring the life and legacy of Samuel Adams.
Learn about early patterns of migration from New England to New York and onward to points west, and how you can trace your ancestors who moved through the Northeast.
Learn from epitaph expert John Hanson about how to interpret early New England gravestones and what they can tell us about our ancestors' lives.
Alongside its legendary military men, the women of the Howe family wielded unprecedented – and, until now, unexamined – influence on the British side of the American Revolution.
Whether your ancestors lived in New England in the 17th century or the 21st century, this presentation will give you the basic information to begin—and advance—your research into New England records.
For many living in New England during the 17th through 19th centuries, their livelihood and even survival was inextricably linked to the sea.
Becoming a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) is a wonderful way to honor and pay tribute to your ancestors who provided service during the American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783).
Since its founding in 1630, the City of Boston has kept records pertaining to its citizens, including several unique resources.
In this webinar Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert discusses how to get the most out of probate records with special emphasis on those resources available at the NEHGS library and archives and online at AmericanAncestors.org.
Learn how to locate your ancestors who served during the Colonial Wars, the American Revolution, or the War of 1812.
Most New England towns began recording births, marriages, and deaths soon after settlement. Discover the New England vital record databases on AmericanAncestors.org and gain basic search tips.
American Ancestors Magazine, Summer 2010
American Ancestors Magazine, Summer 2010
American Ancestors Magazine, Summer 2010
Carp, Benjamin L. Defiance of the Patriots: the Boston Tea Party & the Making of America. View Catalog
Di Spigna, Christian. Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero. View Catalog
Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere’s Ride. View Catalog
Griswold, Wesley S. The Night the Revolution Began: the Boston Tea Party, 1773. View Catalog
Labaree, Benjamin Woods. The Boston Tea Party, 1773: Catalyst for Revolution. View Catalog
Nathan, Gavin R. Historic Taverns of Boston: 370 Years of Tavern History in One Definitive Guide. View Catalo
Robert J. Allison. The Boston Tea Party. View Catalog
Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776. View Catalog
Tyler, John W. Smugglers and Patriots: Boston Merchants and the Advent of the American Revolution. View Catalog
Young, Alfred F. The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution. View Catalog
The following items from our collection can be viewed online in digital format. Browse all items related to the Boston Tea Party
Hawkes, James. A retrospect of the Boston tea-party : with a memoir of George R. T. Hewes, a survivor of the little band of patriots who drowned the tea in Boston harbour in 1773 / By a citizen of New-York... New-York S. S. Bliss, printer, 1834. https://library.nehgs.org/record=b1074743
Tea leaves: being a collection of letters and documents relating to the shipment of tea to the American colonies in the year 1773, by the East India Tea Company. Now first printed from the original manuscript. With an introduction, notes, and biographical notices of the Boston Tea Party, by Francis S. Drake. Boston, A.O. Crane, 1884. https://library.nehgs.org/record=b1083964
Wall, Caleb A. The historic Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773 : Its men and objects: incidents leading to, accompanying, and following the throwing overboard of the tea. Including a short account of the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. With patriotic lessons therefrom adapted to the present time. Worcester, Mass.: Press of F.S. Blanchard, 1896. https://library.nehgs.org/record=b1074718
Thatcher, B. B. Traits of the tea party : being a memoir of George R.T. Hewes, one of the last of its survivors : with a history of that transaction, reminiscences of the massacre, and the siege, and other stories of old times / by a Bostonian. New York : Harper & Brothers, 1835. https://library.nehgs.org/record=b1074742
