The Boston Tea Party Myth 波士顿倾茶事件的迷思 作者：The debunker @ 2013-1-18
译者：Yuncong Yang（@kingsmill）
校对: 小册子(@昵称被抢的小册子)
来源：UnpopularTruth.com， http://www.unpopulartruth.com/2009/04/boston-tea-party.html The Boston Tea Party was not a protest against high taxes, but a protest of several things. Mostly it was an anti-monopoly protest. And it demonstrated colonial resistance to British interference in the American economy. 波士顿倾茶事件的目的并非抗议高额茶税，而是抗议其他一些东西，其中主要是反垄断。同时它也反映了当时美洲殖民地对英国插手殖民地经济的抵制。 A popular understanding of the Boston Tea Party is that the colonial Americans were protesting against high taxes on imported British tea. However, this is not the truth. This is a popular myth that this article clearly debunks. The truth is that the price of tea was actually lowered by the British. The lowering of the price was an attempt to give a monopoly to the East India Trading company. There were many reasons for the colonists to be angered by British manipulation and interference.
对波士顿倾茶事件的一种流行解读是：美洲殖民地的人民是要借倾茶抗议英国对进口的英国茶叶课以重税。然而这并非事实。本文就是要彻底打破这一广为流传的神话。实际上，英国人当时降低了茶叶价格，而压低茶叶价格是为了给予东印度公司垄断地位。英国的经济操纵与干涉之所以激怒了殖民者，是有多种原因的。
The Boston Tea Party, of course wasn't an actual party, but was a famous incident in American history in which some American colonists in Boston disguised themselves as Indians and dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor as a protest. This protest by American colonists arose from two issues confronting the British Empire in 1773: the financial problems of the British East India Company, and an ongoing dispute about the extent of Parliament's sovereignty over the British American colonies.
“波士顿茶会”当然不是真正的茶会，它是美国历史上的一起重要事件。波士顿的一些美洲殖民者在事件中化装成印第安人登上了英国货船，把一箱箱的茶叶倒进波士顿港来表示抗议。美洲殖民者的反抗源于当时英帝国面临的两个问题：一是东印度公司的严重财政问题，二是有关议会对英属美洲殖民地管辖权限的争议。
American colonists resented this favored treatment of a major company, (East India Company) which employed lobbyists and wielded great influence in Parliament. At this stage in American history rebellion was brewing beneath the surface of society. Colonial protests resulted in both Philadelphia and New York, but it was those at the Boston Tea Party that made their mark on American history.
美洲殖民者反对英国当局给予一家大公司(东印度公司)特别优待，该公司雇佣了大量说客，在议会里影响很大。在美洲历史的这一时期，反抗的种子已经在土壤下悄悄萌芽了。在费城和纽约都出现了殖民者的抗议活动，但在美国历史上留下了印迹的，是波士顿的倾茶者们。
John Hancock organized a boycott of tea from China sold by the British East India Company, whose sales in the colonies then fell dramatically. By 1773, the company had large debts, huge stocks of tea in its warehouses and no prospect of selling it because smugglers, such as Hancock, were importing tea from Holland without paying import taxes.
约翰·汉考克组织了一场针对东印度公司销售的中国茶叶的抵制运动，结果东印度公司在殖民地的营业额一落千丈。到1773年，东印度公司已是债台高筑，货仓里积压了大批卖不出去的茶叶——也没有卖掉的指望，因为汉考克等走私贩子正在从荷兰走私大量茶叶到殖民地，这些茶叶是不用交关税的。
The British government passed the Tea Act, which allowed the East India Company to sell tea to the colonies directly and without "payment of any customs or duties whatsoever" in Britain, instead paying the much lower American duty. This tax break allowed the East India Company to sell tea for half the old price and cheaper than the price of tea in England, enabling them to undercut the prices offered by the colonial merchants and smugglers.
英国政府为此通过了《茶叶法案》，允许东印度公司直接向殖民地销售茶叶，不需要在英国国内“缴纳任何关税或其他税收”，而只需缴纳低得多的殖民地赋税。这一税收优惠使得东印度公司可以把它的茶叶价格削减一半，甚至比它在英国卖得还要便宜。现在东印度公司能以低于殖民地商人和走私贩的价格销售茶叶了。 Bostonians suspected the removal of the Tea Tax was simply another attempt by the British parliament to squash American freedom. Samuel Adams, wealthy smugglers, and others who had profited from the smuggled tea called for agents and consignees of the East India Company tea to abandon their positions; consignees who hesitated were terrorized through attacks on their warehouses and even their homes. 波士顿人怀疑，取消东印度公司的茶税，纯粹是英国议会压制美洲殖民地自由的又一次努力。 塞缪尔·亚当斯，富有的走私贩子和其他从走私茶叶中获利的人们呼吁东印度公司在殖民地的代理商和经销商不要再和东印度公司合作。那些犹豫不决的经销商受到了恐吓，他们的货仓，有时甚至是住宅，都遭到攻击。 The Truth Behind the Boston Tea Party: The Tea Act Actually Lowered Taxes 倾茶事件背后的真相是：《茶叶法案》实际上降低了茶叶的税负。 Many people today think the Tea Act—which led to the Boston Tea Party—was simply an increase in the taxes on tea paid by American colonists. Instead, the purpose of the Tea Act was to give the East India Company full and unlimited access to the American tea trade, and exempt the company from having to pay taxes to Britain on tea exported to the American colonies. It even gave the company a tax refund on millions of pounds of tea they were unable to sell and holding in inventory.
如今很多人认为最终导致波士顿倾茶事件的《茶叶法案》提高了美洲殖民地人民负担的茶叶税额。但事实正相反。茶叶法案的目的是要让东印度公司能够完全不受限制的参与美洲茶叶贸易，并免除东印度公司向美洲出口茶叶时应在英国支付的税收。法案甚至为东印度公司卖不出去而积压在手里的数百万磅茶叶提供了退税。 One purpose of the Tea Act was to increase the profitability of the East India Company to its stockholders (which included the King), and to help the company drive its colonial small business competitors out of business. Because the company no longer had to pay high taxes to England and held a monopoly on the tea it sold in the American colonies, it was able to lower its tea prices to undercut the prices of the local importers and the mom-and-pop tea merchants and tea houses, not only in Boston, but in every town in America. 《茶叶法案》的目的之一是提高东印度公司的股东回报率（英王本人也是股东之一），并帮助东印度公司把在殖民地与它竞争的小公司赶出市场。 因为东印度公司不必再付高昂的英国关税，并在殖民地市场出售茶叶方面享有专营权，所以它就可以通过价格竞争打败本地的进口商以及那些家庭式的茶商茶店。不仅在波士顿是如此，在每一个美洲城镇都是如此。 This meddling infuriated the independence-minded colonists , who were, by and large, unappreciative of their colonies being used as a profit center for the multinational East India Company corporation. One historical interpretation is that the truth of the Boston Tea Party is that it was a protest against this meddling. The American colonists resented their small businesses still having to pay the higher, pre-Tea Act taxes without having any say or vote in the matter. (Thus, the cry of "no taxation without representation!") 英国议会对茶叶市场的干涉激怒了当时已经有意独立的殖民者。 总体来说，他们对英国议会拿他们的殖民地来为东印度公司这家跨国企业创造利润非常不满。对波士顿倾茶事件的历史解读之一是，倾茶事件表达了殖民者对这种干涉的抗议。美洲殖民者愤恨于他们的小茶行依然要支付《茶叶法案》出台之前的高税率，而且在这件事上他们一点发言权都没有（因此才有“无代表，不纳税！”的口号）。
Even in the official British version of the history, the 1773 Tea Act was a "legislative maneuver by the British ministry of Lord North to make English tea marketable in America," with a goal of helping the East India Company quickly "sell 17 million pounds of tea stored in England ..."
即使在英国官方版本的历史里，1773年《茶叶法案》也被描述为“诺思勋爵内阁为使英国茶叶在美国打开销路而采取的立法计谋”，其目的是帮助东印度公司迅速“卖掉积压在英国国内的一千七百万磅茶叶……” "Taxation Without Representation" had a Populist Context which plays a large role in the Boston Tea Party “ 无代表，强征税” 这一抗议有着民粹主义背景，这种背景在波士顿倾茶事件中影响很大。 "Taxation without representation" also meant hitting the average person and small business with taxes while letting the richest and most powerful corporation in the world off the hook for its taxes. It was government sponsorship of one corporation over all competitors.
“无代表，强征税”这句话的另一层意思是，政府以税收打击普通百姓和小企业，却让世界上最大最富有的公司免于税收之累。实质上，这就是政府扶持一家公司而打击所有竞争对手。 The Boston Tea Party Was Similar to Modern Day Anti-globalization Protests 波士顿倾茶事件很像今天的反全球化示威 The Boston Tea Party resembled in many ways the growing modern-day protests against transnational corporations and small-town efforts to protect themselves from chain-store retailers or agricultural corporations. With few exceptions, the Tea Party's participants thought of themselves as protesters against the actions of the multinational East India Company and the government that "unfairly" represented, supported, and served the company while not representing or serving the residents.
波士顿倾茶事件和今天的反跨国公司示威，以及小城镇为免受连锁零售商或农业大公司侵蚀而做出的自我保护，在许多方面都颇为相似。绝大多数倾茶事件的参与者认为他们的抗议对象是跨国运营的东印度公司及政府，英国政府“不公平的”代表着东印度公司的利益，它支持并服务于东印度公司，而非殖民地的居民们。
In England, Parliament gave the East India Company what amounted to a monopoly on the importation of tea in 1698. When tea became popular in the British colonies, Parliament sought to eliminate foreign competition by passing an act in 1721 that required colonists to import their tea only from Great Britain. But many Americans purchased the less expensive, smuggled Dutch tea.
在英国，议会在1698年给了东印度公司实质上的茶叶进口专营权。当茶叶在海外的英国殖民地也开始变得抢手时，议会为消除来自海外的竞争于1721年通过了法案，要求各殖民地只能从英国进口茶叶。但许多美洲殖民者选择购买较廉价的荷兰走私茶。
The East India Company did not export tea to the colonies; by law, the company was required to sell its tea wholesale at auctions in England. British firms bought this tea and exported it to the colonies, where they resold it to merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
东印度公司当时并不直接向各殖民地出口茶叶。按照法律，东印度公司须将其茶叶在英国通过拍卖批发出去。英国企业将买到的这些茶叶出口到殖民地，然后再转卖给波士顿，纽约，费城和查尔斯顿的商人们。
In order to help the East India Company compete with smuggled Dutch tea, in 1767 Parliament passed the Indemnity Act, which lowered the tax on tea consumed in Great Britain, and gave the East India Company a partial refund of the duty on tea that was re-exported to the colonies. To help offset this loss of government revenue, Parliament also passed the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, which levied new taxes, including one on tea, in the colonies. Instead of solving the smuggling problem, however, the Townshend duties renewed a controversy about Parliament's right to tax the colonies.
为了帮助东印度公司与荷兰走私茶竞争，1767年议会通过了《免责法案》，该法案降低了英国国内消费茶叶的税率，并对经中间商再出口到殖民地的那部分茶叶退还部分关税给东印度公司。为弥补因此造成的政府收入减少，议会又通过了1767年的《汤森德税收法案》。该法案对殖民地开征了一些新税种，其中之一就是针对茶叶。然而新法案并没有解决茶叶走私问题，其规定的新税种却再度引发了有关议会对殖民地征税权的争议。
To fully understand the resentment of the colonies to Great Britain and King George III, one must understand that there were a series of events in which the colonists were treated unfairly. In previous years, the 13 colonies saw a number of commercial tariffs including the Sugar Act of 1764, which taxed sugar, coffee, and wine, the Stamp Act of 1765, which put a tax on all printed matter, such as newspapers and playing cards, and the Townshend Acts of 1767 which placed taxes on items like glass, paints, paper, and tea. The Tea Act of 1773 was the last straw.
要全面理解殖民地对英国及英王乔治三世的反感，就必须要意识到当时在一系列的事件中，殖民者都已经受到了不公平的待遇。在此前十多年中，十三个殖民地被加征了一系列的新税：1764年的《糖业法案》对糖，咖啡和葡萄酒征税；1765年的《印花税法》对上至报纸下至扑克牌的所有印刷品征税；1767年的《汤森德法案》则对诸如玻璃，油漆，纸和茶叶等货品征税。1773年的《茶叶法案》不过是最后一根稻草罢了。 "If our trade be taxed, why not our lands, in short, everything we posses? They tax us without having legal representation." —Samuel Adams
“如果他们能对我们的贸易征税，那为什么就不能对我们的土地，或者我们所有的一切征税？他们向我们征税，却不给我们法定代表权。”——塞缪尔·亚当斯
In an attempt to transfer part of the cost of colonial administration to the American colonies, the British Parliament had enacted the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Townshend Acts in 1767. Colonial political opposition and economic boycotts eventually forced repeal of these acts, but Parliament left the import duty on tea as a symbol of its authority . Under the Townshend Act, many goods brought into the colonies were heavily taxed by the British. To attempt to appease the disgruntled Americans, these tariffs were repealed, except for tea, and they remained upset since the tax on tea remained in effect.
为了把管理殖民地的成本部分转嫁给美洲殖民地，英国议会于1765年通过了《印花税法》，于1767年通过了《汤森德法案》。殖民地的政治反抗和经济杯葛最终迫使议会废除了这些法律，但议会保留了茶叶进口的关税，作为其对殖民地握有管辖权的标志。按照汤森德法案，英国人对殖民地进口的许多商品都征收了重税。然后，为了安抚愤怒的殖民地人，除茶税外，所有这些关税都被废除了。但是殖民者依然不满，因为英国还在征收着茶税。
In an atmosphere of continuing suspicion and distrust, the British and Americans each looked for the worst from the other. In 1772 the crown, having earlier declared its right to dismiss colonial judges at its pleasure, stated its intention to pay directly the salaries of governors and judges in Massachusetts.
在长期持续的猜疑与不信任的气氛下，英国人和殖民者都在以最大的恶意揣测着对方。在1772年，王国政府宣布它有意直接向马萨诸塞的行政长官及法官们发放薪金。而在此前不久，它已宣称有权随意罢免殖民地的法官。
The situation remained comparatively quiet until May 1773, when the faltering East India Company persuaded Parliament that the company's future and the empire's prosperity depended on the disposal of its tea surplus. At this point, the East India Company was facing bankruptcy due to corruption, mismanagement, and competition.
直到1773年5月，形势还是相对平静的。就在5月，摇摇欲坠的东印度公司终于说服议会，东印度公司的未来及帝国的福祉都取决于手中积压的茶叶能否得到处理。此时，东印度公司已经因腐败，管理不善和市场竞争而濒临破产了。
The plan was to export a half a million pounds of tea to the American colonies for the purpose of selling it without imposing upon the company the usual duties and tariffs. With these privileges, the company could undersell American merchants and monopolize the colonial tea trade. Not only did this action create unfair commerce for the merchants of the colonies but it also proved to be the spark that revived American passions about the issue of taxation without representation.
东印度公司的计划是：将五十万磅茶叶卖到美洲殖民地去，政府将不对这些茶叶征收关税和其他赋税。 有了这样的优惠条件，东印度公司就可以通过价格竞争挤掉美国茶商，进而垄断殖民地的茶叶市场。 这一行动不仅仅对殖民地商人不公，事实证明，它还是一根导火索，重新点燃了殖民者对“无代表，强征税”的怒火。
Because the American tea market had nearly been captured by tea smuggled from Holland, Parliament gave the company a drawback (refund) of the entire shilling-per-pound duty, enabling the company to undersell the smugglers. It was expected that the American colonists, faced with a choice between the cheaper company tea and the higher-priced smuggled tea, would buy the cheaper tea, despite the tax. The company would then be saved from bankruptcy, the smugglers would be ruined, and the principle of parliamentary taxation would be upheld.
因为当时美洲茶叶市场已经基本被荷兰走私茶占领，议会决定将每磅一先令的茶叶关税全额退还给东印度公司，使之能借价格优势击败走私商人。议会认为，尽管有茶税，殖民者在便宜的东印度公司茶和较贵的走私茶中，应该还是会选择便宜茶的。这样既可以挽救东印度公司，使之免于破产，又可以将走私商人赶入绝境，还可以继续维持议会在殖民地征税的权威。 Resisting the Tea Act 反抗茶叶法案 Due to the popularity of inexpensive tea smuggled from Holland, British tea manufacturers were accumulating a large surplus of unsold tea, about 17 million pounds.
因为较为便宜的荷兰走私茶在市场上大为走红，英国茶厂积压了大量的滞销茶叶，累计达一千七百万磅之多。
Instead of rescinding the remaining Townshend tax and exploring inoffensive methods of aiding the financially troubled British East India Company, Parliament enacted the Tea Act of 1773, designed to allow the company to bypass middlemen and sell directly to American retailers 面对这种情况，议会并没有选择废除残余的汤森德税，也没有试图寻求不损害别人的办法来拯救东印度公司。 相反它颁布了1773年《茶叶法案》，允许东印度公司不经中间商直接向美洲零售商销售茶叶。 In September and October 1773, seven ships carrying East India Company tea were sent to the colonies: four were bound for Boston, and one each for New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. Americans learned the details of the Tea Act while the ships were en route, and opposition began to mount. Whigs, sometimes calling themselves Sons of Liberty , began a campaign to raise awareness and to convince or compel the consignees to resign, in the same way that stamp distributors had been forced to resign in the 1765 Stamp Act crisis.
1773年九月和十月间，七艘满载东印度公司茶叶的货船驶向殖民地，四艘前往波士顿，剩下三艘分别前往纽约，费城和查尔斯顿。这些船还在路上时，美洲殖民者就已经得知《茶叶法案》的细节，反抗情绪在逐步酝酿。有时自称“自由之子”的北美辉格党人发起了一场旨在让公众了解《茶叶法案》并说服或迫使东印度公司的分销商们放弃分销权的运动。在1765年《印花税法案》风波里，他们正是以这种方式迫使印花税票分销商放弃销售权的。
The truth is that the protest movement that culminated with the Boston Tea Party was not a dispute about high taxes. The price of legally imported tea was actually reduced by the Tea Act of 1773. Protestors were instead concerned with a variety of other issues.
事实上，以波士顿倾茶事件为终结的抗议运动并不是针对高税率的。1773年的《茶叶法案》事实上降低了合法进口茶叶的价格。抗议者们关心的是其他一些问题。
Several myths are wrapped up in the story of the Boston Tea Party. The familiar "no taxation without representation" argument, along with the question of the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies, remained prominent.
波士顿倾茶事件的叙述里包含了若干迷思。广为人知的“无代表不纳税”主张，和议会的殖民地管辖权范围问题，至今仍在叙事中居于突出地位。
Some regarded the purpose of the tax program—to make leading officials independent of colonial influence—as a dangerous infringement of colonial rights. This was especially true in Massachusetts, the only colony where the Townshend program had been fully implemented.
另一些人认为，英国的征税方案旨在令殖民地高级官员免受殖民地影响，这是对殖民地权利的严重侵犯。这一说法在马萨诸塞格外真确，因为马萨诸塞是唯一一个完全执行了汤森德增税计划的殖民地。
Colonial merchants, some of them smugglers, played a significant role in the protests. Because the Tea Act made legally imported tea cheaper, it threatened to put smugglers of Dutch tea out of business. Other, legal tea importers who had not been named as consignees by the East India Company were also threatened with financial ruin by the Tea Act.
殖民地商人们——其中一些是走私者——在抗议中扮演了重要角色。因为《茶叶法案》降低了合法进口茶叶的价格，走私荷兰茶的商人们可能会被挤出市场。此外，那些没有得到东印度公司授权经销资格的合法进口茶商们也面临灭顶之灾。
Another major concern for merchants was since the Tea Act gave the East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade, it was feared that this government-created monopoly might be extended in the future to include other goods. And this served to alarm the conservative colonial mercantile elements into uniting with the more radical patriots.
商人们担忧的另一重点是《茶叶法案》使东印度公司垄断了茶叶贸易市场，而未来这种政府支持的垄断行为也可能扩展到其他的商品交易上。这些威胁刺激了较为保守的殖民地商界势力，使之逐渐与更激进的反英志士群体联合起来。
South of Boston, protestors successfully compelled the tea consignees to resign. Merchants agreed not to sell the tea, and the designated tea agents in New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston canceled their orders or resigned their commissions.
在波士顿南部，抗议者们成功迫使东印度公司的授权分销商放弃了分销权。商人们同意抵制东印度公司的茶叶。在纽约，费城和查尔斯顿，取得茶叶分销权的代理商们或取消订单，或放弃分销权。
In Charleston, the consignees had been forced to resign, and the unclaimed tea was seized by customs officials. There were mass protest meetings in Philadelphia, and eventually the Philadelphia consignees had resigned and the tea ship returned to England with its cargo. The tea ship bound for New York City was delayed by bad weather; by the time it arrived, the consignees had resigned, and the ship returned to England with the tea.
在查尔斯顿，授权经销商们被迫放弃了经销权，无人售卖的茶叶最后被海关官员扣押了。费城爆发了大规模的抗议集会，最终费城的授权经销商们也退出了，运茶船带着茶叶打道回府。前往纽约的运茶船被海上的恶劣天气耽搁了，等到它到达纽约时，当地的经销商们已放弃了经销权，它只好又带着茶叶回了英国。 Revolutionary sentiment mounted . . . 革命情绪升温…… In Boston, however, the tea consignees were friends or relatives of Governor Hutchinson, who was determined to uphold the law. The opposition, led by Samuel and John Adams, Josiah Quincy, and John Hancock, was determined to resist Parliamentary supremacy over colonial legislatures.
然而在波士顿，茶叶授权经销商们都是总督哈钦森的亲友，而哈钦森决意要实施《茶叶法案》。由塞缪尔和约翰·亚当斯两兄弟，约书亚·昆西和约翰·汉考克领导的反对派则决心抵抗议会凌驾于殖民地立法机构之上的威权。
Three ships from London, the Dartmouth , the Eleanor and the Beaver , sailed into Boston Harbor from November 28th to December 8, 1773. Loaded with tea from the East India Company, they were all anchored at Griffin’s Wharf but were prevented from unloading their cargo.
从伦敦来的三艘货船——达特茅斯号，艾莉诺号和河狸号——于1773年11月28日到12月8日间驶入波士顿港。三艘船满载东印度公司的茶叶，停泊在格里芬码头，但它们无法卸货。
When the first ship, the Dartmouth , reached Boston with the cargo of tea, the Sons of Liberty prevented owner Francis Rotch from unloading the tea, but they could not force the consignees to reject it. Rotch and the captains of two newly arrived ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver , agreed to leave without unloading the tea, but they were denied clearance by Governor Hutchinson.
当达特茅斯号运载茶叶首先到达波士顿时，“自由之子”成功阻止了船主弗朗西斯·罗奇卸货，但他们无法迫使授权经销商们拒绝接受这些茶叶。罗奇和另两艘刚到达的船——艾莉诺号和河狸号——的船长们同意不卸货就离开波士顿，但总督哈钦森拒绝放行。
According to the law, if the tea was not unloaded within 20 days (by December 17), it was to be seized and sold to pay custom duties. Convinced that this procedure would still be payment of unconstitutional taxes, the radical patriots resolved to break the deadlock. On December 14, Rotch was called before a mass meeting and ordered to seek clearance again to sail from Boston. But neither the customs collector nor the governor would grant it.
按照法律，如果这些茶叶不能在20天内(也就是到12月17日)卸下船，它们将会被海关没收拍卖来偿付关税。激进的反英志士们认为这样处理茶叶无异于缴纳违宪征收的茶税，于是他们决定要打破眼前的僵局。12月14日，志士们将罗奇船长召至一次大型集会上，并命令他再次申请驶离波士顿港，但无论是海关还是总督都拒绝放行。
Fearing that the tea would be seized for failure to pay customs duties, and eventually become available for sale, something had to be done. Demanding that the tea be returned to where it came from or face retribution, the Sons of Liberty , led by Samuel Adams began to meet to determine the fate of the three cargo ships in the Boston harbor.
如果不想让茶叶因滞纳关税被扣押拍卖而最终流入市场，就必须要采取行动了。塞缪尔·亚当斯领导的“自由之子”一方面声称如果这些茶叶不运回英国，他们就将采取报复行动，另一方面开始组织会议，讨论应该如何处理波士顿港内的这三艘货船。
On the cold evening of December 16, 1773, a crowd of several thousand spectators gathered and shouted encouragement to about 60 men disguised as Mohawk Indians. The band of patriots in Boston burst from the South Meeting House with the spirit of freedom burning in their eyes. The patriots headed towards Griffin's Wharf and the three ships. Quickly, quietly, and in an orderly manner, they boarded each of the tea ships. Once on board, the patriots went to work striking the chests with axes and hatchets.
1773年12月16日，一个寒冷的夜晚，波士顿街头聚集了几千名看热闹的群众，他们高声呐喊，为约六十名乔装成印第安莫霍克族的志士助威。这一伙波士顿反英志士从南方教堂议事厅冲了出来，他们个个眼中都燃烧着自由的火焰，冲向格里芬码头的三艘货船。志士们飞速而有序的分别登上了三艘货船，没有发出一点声音。一上船，他们就开始用斧头劈砍茶叶箱子。
Only the sounds of axe blades splitting wood rang out from Boston Harbor. Once the crates were open, the patriots dumped the tea into the sea. By nine o'clock p.m., the Sons of Liberty , with the aid of the ships' crew, had emptied a total of 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor. Fearing any connection to their treasonous deed, the patriots took off their shoes and they swept the ships' decks, and made each ship's first mate attest that only the tea was damaged.
静悄悄的波士顿港里，只听到斧刃劈开木箱的声音。劈开箱子之后，志士们就把茶叶倒入海里。到晚上九点，“自由之子”们在船员的帮助下已经把三百四十二箱茶叶倒进了波士顿港。为免事后被发现他们与这一叛逆行径有何干系，志士们脱掉鞋子，擦干净了货船的甲板，并让各船大副宣誓作证：船上受损的只有茶叶，并无他物。
The furious royal government responded to this "Boston Tea Party" by the so-called Intolerable Acts of 1774, practically eliminating self-government in Massachusetts and closing Boston's port.
愤怒的英国政府对“波士顿倾茶事件”做出了反应，它颁布了被后世称为“1774年不可容忍法案”的一系列法律。通过这些法律，英国政府实质上取消了马萨诸塞的自治，并关闭了波士顿港。
The news of the destruction of the tea raised the spirit of resistance in the colonies. On April 22, 1774, the London attempted to land tea at New York. It was boarded by a mob, and the tea was destroyed. Similar incidents occurred at Annapolis, Md., on October 19 and at Greenwich, N.J., on December 22, and the tea was boycotted throughout the colonies.
倾茶事件的消息传遍了美洲殖民地，鼓舞着殖民地人民的反抗斗志。在1774年4月22日，伦敦号货船试图在纽约卸茶，结果一伙暴民登船毁掉了所有的茶叶。同年10月19日，马里兰州安纳波利斯也发生了同样的事件。12月22日，毁茶事件在新泽西州格林威治再度发生。所有殖民地都在杯葛英国茶叶了。
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