Boston Tea Party Online Panel Discussion, 10 Jan.

On Tuesday, 10 January, Revolutionary Spaces will launch its commemoration of the Sestercentennial of the Boston Tea Party with an online panel discussion about the event: “‘To Save This Country’: The Boston Tea Party in History.”

The event description says:

Kicking off the 250th anniversary year of this iconic moment in history, this virtual panel will provide a nuanced basis for which to understand the The Boston Tea Party. . . . acclaimed historians will explore how the events preceding the Boston Tea Party led to this historic occasion. We will then move, moment by moment, through the meeting and the destruction of the tea, providing commentary and insight. We will also discuss the aftermath of December 16, 1773 and its legacy. The panel will conclude an audience Q&A.

The panelists are:

• Dr. Nathaniel Sheidley, president and CEO of Revolutionary Spaces, which operates the Old South Meeting House and Old State House.
• Prof. Joseph J. Ellis, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation and the National Book Award for American Sphinx, and author of many more books.
• Prof. Benjamin Carp, author of Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America, Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution, and the new The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution.
• Prof. Sarah Purcell, the L.F. Parker Professor of History at Grinnell College and author of Sealed with Blood: War, Sacrifice, and Memory in Revolutionary America.
• myself.

The questions prepared for this event are very wide-ranging, starting with the Seven Years’ War and ending with the upcoming commemorations. We’re supposed to both lay out the basic historical facts of the Tea Party and add nuance for people already familiar with those facts. So even at ninety minutes, this conversation could get rushed at the end. If you have burning questions, post them early!

Register to attend “‘To Save This Country’: The Boston Tea Party in History” through this page. The event will start at 6:30 P.M. and end about 8:00. It will be recorded for the WGBH Forum Network.