The Hidden History of the Boston Tea Party

De: Adam Jortner, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Adam Jortner

The history of the Boston Tea Party is a hidden one. Why? Since it was a clandestine operation, all sorts of rumors and legends grew up around the event—many collected decades after the American Revolution had ended.

At its core, however, the night of December 16, 1773, when colonials dumped tea from British ships into Boston Harbor, was more than a fight over tea and taxes. It was a struggle over the very nature of democracy and self-governance. Where does legal authority actually come from? Who gets to decide which laws are valid? What role does nonviolent (or violent) protest play in bringing about change?

For that matter, how does one even throw a 400-pound chest of tea overboard?

These and other questions are answered in The Hidden History of the Boston Tea Party, an Audible Original by noted author and historian Adam Jortner. In six engaging lectures, he unravels the secrets of that fateful night and reveals surprising truths about everything from the role tea played in colonial America to the everyday lives of American colonists in Boston to the challenges the Boston Tea Party presents for Americans in the 21st century. This nuanced historical analysis takes you beyond broad strokes and caricatures to offer a complex perspective on a decisive moment when the American colonists stood firm on the principle that there cannot be liberty without self-government.

©2023 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC.

Proud of the Boston Tea Party

I love that the author is sharing important information about this event in our nation’s founding. We all need to know these stories. It does get a little preachy about things we don’t agree with now, but were the accepted norm back then. The author’s voice is extremely pleasant to listen to. Give it a listen! It’s free! Your brain will grow!

Great context setting around the Boston Tea Party

The author is well+spoken and does a great job of explaining the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the events that it triggered. While the Tea Party itself is familiar, the background the author explores is quite revealing.

Fascinating and well told!

This was an incredible listen. I know for sure that had my K-12 history and social studies classes provided this kind of global view of events (both literally and figuratively), I would have found them to be my favorite classes.

Story has a tremendous influence! The watered down and, this, disjointed presentations we received were dull beyond articulation.

Note: there was one brilliant exception—an AP Modern European History course taught by a man who loved history and loved teaching it. Academically, it was more rigorous and exacting than any courses I encountered in either undergraduate or graduate school, but it was so compelling that the work was a joy.

Anyway, I plan to look for published papers and other works by Professor Jartner. And, here is a nugget: there were things mentioned in his lecture that made me better understand parts of the Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” (And yes, I know that it was not a work of strict scholarship and total biographical accuracy. It’s just that listening to this lecture series made me under stand some of the contextual and subplot components of the musical.)

Look at history and our forefathers

An accurate comprehension of history presented from a patriotic perspective. I have engaged with individuals in contemporary times, and inquired about their thoughts on our current taxation system and government. It is thought-provoking to consider whether our forefathers would be greatly dismayed by these developments, and if so, one can only imagine the intense reaction they would have. This realization provides valuable insight into the origins of our nation and the journey towards liberty and autonomy.

Awesome!

I would absolutely listen to more lectures like this. Well researched, well balanced and well presented .

My only regret is that it stopped at the Tea Party. I would have lived for it to continue to Lexington and Comcord.

Party took years to organize

Nothing. Entertaining and fun. Could have been a little longer but didn't drag on and on.

Got a real feel for the culture at the time

Breaking down the massachusett colonists by drinking club, loyalties, financial interests, and learning how their political sympathies evolved gave life to this historical event.

Informative

Jortner gives a brief, but well fleshed out, analysis of the tea party, and it’s antecedence. This is stuff that most of us don’t get in our seventh grade American history class.

It’s not his best here on Audible, but it’s well worth a listen.

This is a series of chapters that follow one another

The story line was put out in such a way that it made you want to continue listening to the book until the end.
Each chapter was well-researched and followed the course of history from the beginning of the thoughts of revolution after the French & indian war until the Boston tea party and the incidents following the tea party. True results of the boston tea party were shown including the fact that slavery was a issue even during this time. I Fact checked a lot of the statements he made and he is a excellent, well informed writer. This is not a story about the revolutionary war, but it is a story of the facts that led up to it. And a overview of the results.

Very good

Really enjoyed the narrator. Engaging and interesting history I didn’t know. The stuff on the east India company was fascinating.