DAR Essay Contest

 

AMERICAN HISTORY ESSAY CONTEST

 

Each year, the Daughters of the American Revolution host an Essay Contest for students in grades 5-12.  Students across the nation are invited to participate.  The goal of this contest is to help make students more aware of our national history and how our great country was formed.

 

This year's topic is "Enjoying a new kind of Tea Party"

 

In the 1770's there was a movement of protest from the Colonists against the British due to taxes and laws.  Along the eastern coast a growing number of Patriots held "tea parties".  The most widely taught,  and thus memorable,  "tea party" was the Boston Tea Party which happened on December 16, 1773 in Boston, MA.

 

Two other, lesser known "tea parties" followed in 1774;  one in Chestertown, MD and another closer to home in Charleston, SC.  

 

In October 1774, fifty-one women in Edenton, NC decided to refuse to buy tea from the British because of the high taxes and unfair laws.  In 1774, women in Wilmington, NC burned their tea for the same reasons.  

 

Imagine you are one of these women boldly participating in one of these "Tea Parties" in North Carolina.  Give details of either the Edenton Tea Party or the Wilmington Tea Party.  Be sure to describe the tea party, and why your would choose to participate.  Think of the outcome these "tea parties" had on the revolution.  Explain if you think they were a good idea, how they encouraged independence, and whether or not your participation was a good idea.

 

https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/research-library