Boycotts were vital components of the American Revolution. Few goods receiving more ire then, or more scholarly attention since, than tea. What did these protests mean? Tea protests and boycotts have been linked to socio-political revolution, U.S. independence, and the formation of American national identity. Yet boycotts are notoriously difficult to maintain, and these boycotts were no different: the dirty secret of the tea protests and boycotts of the 1770s is that they all failed, even as the revolution succeeded. Why? Were boycotts ways for ordinary colonists to engage in politics through their consumer choices? Or did colonists say one thing and do another? This lecture will reexamine the tea protests and boycotts from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 through American independence in 1776.

ZOOM Meeting Link: https://cuhk.zoom.us/j/99088684183