Edenton-North-Carolina-women-Tea-boycott-1775

The Edenton Tea Party was a political protest in

Edenton, North Carolina Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has be ...

, in response to the

Tea Act The Tea Act 1773 (13 Geo 3 c 44) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help th ...

, passed by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

in 1773. Inspired by the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...

and the calls for tea boycotts and the resolutions of the first

North Carolina Provincial Congress The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They ...

, 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tea and boycott other British products "until such time that all acts which tend to enslave our Native country shall be repealed."

Organized by women

The Edenton Tea Party was a landmark, not because of the stances taken—boycotts were common across the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

—but because it was organized by women. Women in the colonies were generally invisible in politics, but the Edenton Tea Party was one of the first instances of political action organized and enacted by women. Despite their usual absence at political gatherings, women played a significant role in the running of the household and were therefore crucial to boycott efforts organized and popularized by men. Barker believed their action would be noteworthy in England and sent a copy of the declaration to the British press. She said at the time, “Maybe it has only been men who have protested the king up to now. That only means we women have taken too long to let our voices be heard. We are signing our names to a document, not hiding ourselves behind costumes like the men in Boston did at their tea party. The British will know who we are.” The reaction in England was mostly derogatory and dismissive, as seen in engraver Philip Dawe's satirical depiction of the event. However, in the colonies it inspired many others to take up the boycotts and their actions were praised by many patriots. The Edenton tea party had 50 women, or 51 including Penelope Barker. The signers of the declaration include Abagail Charlton, Mary Blount, F. Johnstone, Elizabeth Creacy, Margaret Cathcart, Elizabeth Patterson, Anne Johnstone, Jane Wellwood, Margaret Pearson, Mary Woolard, Penelope Dawson, Sarah Beasley, Jean Blair, Susannah Vail, Grace Clayton, Elizabeth Vail, Frances Hall, Mary Jones, Mary Creacy, Anne Hall, Rebecca Bondfield, Ruth Benbury, Sarah Littlejohn, Sarah Howcott, Penelope Barker, Sarah Hoskins, Elizabeth P. Ormond, Mary Littledle, M. Payne, Sarah Valentine, Elizabeth Johnston, Elizabeth Crickett, Mary Bonner, Elizabeth Green, Lydia Bonner, Mary Ramsay, Sarah Howe, Anne Horniblow, Lydia Bennet, Mary Hunter, Marion Wells, Tresia Cunningham, Anne Anderson, Elizabeth Roberts, Sarah Mathews, Anne Haughton, and Elizabeth Beasly.

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The full text of the petition reads:

References

External links

Edenton Tea Party at the North Carolina History ProjectEdenton haven Tea Party at North Carolina Digital History
{{Authority control 1774 in the Thirteen Colonies Consumer boycotts History of North Carolina North Carolina in the American Revolution Tax resistance in the United States 1774 in North Carolina

Organized by women

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