Greenwich Tea Party

Last updated

The Greenwich Tea Party was an incident that took place on December 22, 1774, early in the American Revolution, in Greenwich, a small community in Cumberland County, New Jersey, on the Cohansey River. Of the six tea parties during this time, it was the last and the least well-known due to the small size of Greenwich. Before the Greenwich Tea Party, the Tea Act led to upset among American colonists which led to boycotting and the destruction of tea. Specifically in Greenwich, many colonists viewed boycotting tea as a way to show loyalty to the American cause. The Greyhound was a ship transporting tea that was piloted by Captain J. Allen. Captain Allen decided to change the ship’s course from Philadelphia to Greenwich to avoid possible conflict with colonists in Philadelphia over the ship’s cargo. Once the ship arrived in Greenwich, the tea was stored in Dan Bowen’s cellar, who sympathized with the British. However, Greenwich citizens learned of the tea in Bowen’s cellar, so a meeting was held over what actions to take. They decided on a verdict and, possibly dressed as Native Americans, they broke into the cellar, took the tea, and set it on fire. [1] Some of the tea burners, like Richard and Lewis Howell, were put on trial. However, by the time of the trial, the American Revolution was in full swing and there weren’t enough loyalists left to indict them. [2]

One participant of the Greenwich Tea Party was Richard Howell, who would become the third governor of the state of New Jersey and whose granddaughter, Varina Howell, would marry Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. Another known participant was Ebenezer Elmer, who would later become a member of the United States House of Representatives for New Jersey. James Erwin also participated, and he later became the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey. Another participant was Andrew Hunter, who would become a chaplain of the United States Navy. 16 other participants also served in the military during the American Revolution. [3]

Greenwich Tea Burning Monument Teaburners Monument.JPG
Greenwich Tea Burning Monument

In 1908, the Cumberland County Historical Society erected a monument to mark the event, which is located at Main Street at Market Square in Greenwich Township. [4] It's likely that the names on the monument aren’t entirely accurate. They were recalled by Ebenezer Elmer, who participated in the tea burning. However, when he recalled the list of names he was in his 80s, and the tea burning had taken place around 60 years ago. The citizens of Greenwich feel a lot of pride in the event and the patriotism it represents. There have been reenactments of the tea burning, and there is an annual charity 5k run titled the Tea Burner Race. [5] On September 27 and 28, 2008, there was a weekend celebration of the 100th anniversary of the monument.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey</span> Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States

Greenwich Township is the westernmost township in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 771, a decrease of 33 (−4.1%) from the 2010 census count of 804, which in turn reflected a decline of 43 (−5.1%) from the 847 counted in the 2000 census. It is part of the Vineland-Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes and which constitutes a part of the Delaware Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey</span> Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States

Hopewell Township is a township in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Vineland-Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes and which constitutes a part of the Delaware Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 4,391, a decrease of 180 (−3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 4,571, which in turn reflected an increase of 137 (+3.1%) from the 4,434 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey</span> Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States

Lawrence Township is a township in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Vineland-Bridgeton metropolitan statistical area for statistical purposes. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,087, a decrease of 203 (−6.2%) from the 2010 census count of 3,290, which in turn reflected an increase of 569 (+20.9%) from the 2,721 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intolerable Acts</span> Series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774

The Intolerable Acts, sometimes referred to as the Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure enacted by Parliament in May 1773. In Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts. They were a key development leading to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in April 1775.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sons of Liberty</span> Dissident organization during the American Revolution

The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765 and throughout the entire period of the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townshend Acts</span> Political precursor to the American Revolution

The Townshend Acts or Townshend Duties were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the Chancellor of the Exchequer who proposed the programme. Historians vary slightly as to which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five are often listed:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cohansey River</span> River in New Jersey, United States

The Cohansey River, also called Cohansey Creek, is a 30.6-mile-long (49.2 km) river in southern New Jersey of the United States. It drains approximately 108 square miles (280 km2) of rural agricultural and forested lowlands on the north shore of Delaware Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Association</span> 1774 American trade boycott with England

The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on October 20, 1774. It was a result of the escalating American Revolution and called for a trade boycott against British merchants by the colonies. Congress hoped that placing economic sanctions on British imports and exports would pressure Parliament into addressing the colonies' grievances, especially repealing the Intolerable Acts, which were strongly opposed by the colonies.

Jonathan Elmer was an American politician, of the Pro-Administration (Federalist) Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey General Assembly</span> Lower house of the New Jersey Legislature

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.

Ebenezer Elmer was an American physician from Bridgeton, New Jersey. He represented New Jersey in the U.S. Congress from the Democratic-Republican Party from 1801 to 1807. Elmer's older brother, Jonathan Elmer, and Ebenezer's son Lucius Elmer were members of the United States House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Tree</span> Elm tree in Boston, Massachusetts, US (1646–1775)

The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston, Massachusetts near Boston Common in the years before the American Revolution. In 1765, Patriots in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government at the tree. The tree became a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of Britain over the American colonies, and the ground surrounding it became known as Liberty Hall. The Liberty Tree was felled in August 1775 by Loyalists led by Nathaniel Coffin Jr. or by Job Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey in the American Revolution</span>

New Jersey played a central role in the American Revolution both politically and militarily. It was the site of more than 90 military engagements, including the pivotal battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth. George Washington led his army across the state four times and encamped there during three hard winters, enduring some of the greatest's setbacks of the war as well as seminal victories. New Jersey's decisive role in the conflict earned it the title, "Crossroads of the American Revolution".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Tea Party</span> 1773 American protest against British taxation

The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend Act as a violation of their rights. In response, the Sons of Liberty, some disguised as Native Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edenton Tea Party</span> 1774 American revolutionary protest

The Edenton Tea Party was a political protest in Edenton, North Carolina, in response to the Tea Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Inspired by the Boston Tea Party and the calls for tea boycotts and the resolutions of the first North Carolina Provincial Congress, 51 women, led by Penelope Barker, met on October 25, 1774, and signed a statement of protest vowing to give up tea and boycott other British products "until such time that all acts which tend to enslave our Native country shall be repealed." The boycott was one of the events that led up to the American Revolution (1775–1781). It was the "first recorded women's political demonstration in America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potter's Tavern</span> United States historic place

Potter's Tavern is located at 49–51 Broad Street in the city of Bridgeton in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1770, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1971, for its significance in architecture, communications, and politics. The building was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Maskel House</span> Historic house in New Jersey, United States

The Thomas Maskel House is located on Bacon's Neck Road near the Greenwich section of Greenwich Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. The building was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1939. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 10, 1975, for its significance in exploration/settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Historic District</span> Historic district in New Jersey, United States

The Greenwich Historic District is a 350-acre (140 ha) historic district located in the Greenwich section of Greenwich Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It extends from the Cohansey River north toward the neighboring settlement of Othello. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 1972, for its significance in agriculture, architecture, commerce, and politics. It includes 19 contributing buildings, many documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).

Roadstown is an unincorporated community located within Stow Creek Township, in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield Presbyterian Church</span> Historic church in New Jersey, United States

Fairfield Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian Church in America congregation in the Fairton section of Fairfield Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey. It was founded in 1680 when a log church was built on the banks of the Cohansey Creek, and it is the oldest existing congregation currently within the PCA. This log church was replaced by a New England style frame building sometime between 1713 and 1715.

References

  1. "Greenwich Tea Burning - Cumberland County, New Jersey (NJ)". www.cumberlandcountynj.gov. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  2. "Greenwich Tea Burning". Governor Richard Howell. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  3. "The Greenwich Tea Burning: The Political and Religious Roots of Local Revolutionary Resistance". Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  4. Cumberland County - green Tea Burning: 1774, accessed November 9, 2017,
  5. NJ.com, Lisa Rose | NJ Advance Media for (2014-06-29). "Flashback to great 'tea burning' of 1774, the pride of a South Jersey town". nj. Retrieved 2023-05-22.