Apr 15 2009
St. Paul Tea Party at the Capitol.
Yesterday many media sources across the United States discussed the upcoming tea parties that were scheduled for today within various cities across the nation. The mass media compared the upcoming tea parties to the original one that was held in Boston on December 16th, 1773. Various rumors were started through out the nation recently after news broke concerning these tea parties. Among the rumors discussed was the possibility of another revolution to occur within the United States. This rumor was quickly struck down by many media sources as being over exaggerated and not possible.
There were many differences between the tea party of 1773 and the most recent tea party which occurred today. The previous tea party was created in response to England’s Tea Act of 1773. Specifically at that time Boston’s citizens were not pleased with the increase in taxes by an individual that was not a local representative of the people. The citizens of Boston felt it was necessary to take a stand against England and not allow the tea to be offloaded into Boston. However, England did not want to ship the tea back which angered the citizens, and they began to throw the boxes of tea into Boston Harbor. The recent tea party was created in response to the upcoming tax increases by the national government to support the Obama administration’s proposed budget. Differences between the two tea parties include the actual taxing of the item “tea” for starters, which is not the main issue this time. Also, the previous tea party occurred in Boston whereas the recent tea parties were being held in various cities across the nation simultaneously. Another significant difference is the property damage and loss that occurred in Boston yet in the events’ today there were no destructive acts of any kind.
The tea party at the Minnesota State Capitol was almost uneventful as there were barely a handful of citizens that had supported this event. Of the citizens that showed up to protest and support this event consisted mainly of Libertarians and Republicans. The event was peaceful and full of excitement once it got started.
