Karen Cyson: 250 years later, Americans are still drinking coffee over tea
Are you drinking coffee while you read the newspaper today? Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, is the semi-quincentennial of the reason that particular beverage is the one most likely in your cup.
That date marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
Prior to the "party," 1.2 million pounds of tea were consumed in the 13 colonies each year, tea that was taxed by the British Empire to keep their economy afloat and to support the British East India Co.
While now we seem to think of beer as the Samuel Adams thirst quencher, back then Mr. Adams was more interested in smuggling tea to avoid taxation and coordinating the Sons of Liberty, a group of merchants and importers that balked at the idea of taxation without representation.
We all probably remember our early education about the Boston Tea Party — how the men from the Sons of Liberty dressed as "Indians" and threw tea in the harbor. And we learned how their actions were one of the first acts of defiance that eventually led to the American Revolution.
What I don't remember ever hearing was the magnitude of their actions. Three cargo ships loaded with tea were in the harbor that day, the Dartmouth, Beaver, and Eleanor. The tea chests that were broken open and dumped overboard from these vessels would have a retail value of about $1 million today.
In Boston, there will be a re-enactment at 7 p.m. Saturday (watch it at Dec16.org).
While that will be entertaining, I think it's even more important to recognize the effect the actions of this group of men had on our entire society.
Going to work? I'll bet you get a morning and afternoon coffee break.
Holiday party, banquet, wedding, or funeral to attend? The beverage you'll be offered is coffee.
Major intersection just about anywhere in town? Look around and you'll see a coffee vendor, probably now with a drive-thru.
See some new construction? If there's already a nail salon, bank, car wash, and fast food place nearby, the new building is most likely a coffee spot.
The knee-jerk attitude of our fledgling country all those years ago, "we will NOT drink your tea," still permeates our society today.
It's almost as if there's some secret pact — if an adult is thirsty, offer them coffee.
Personally, I prefer tea. When my friends started drinking coffee in High School, about the same time many of them began smoking, I couldn't even begin to appreciate either. Smoking was stinky and coffee tasted vile.
Most people can't even explain why they prefer coffee. They are adults. Adults drink coffee. They drink coffee. Few, if any, when questioned, would state that they are drinking coffee because they believe taxation without representation is unfair and they support the protesters.
I don't care if you drink coffee or tea or water or juice. That's really not the point. What is important is that whatever you do in life, do it because it is right for you, and not because it is the expected behavior, not because it is the accepted behavior, not because everyone else is doing it, and not because some people 250 years ago started a trend even if their cause was noble.
— Times Writers Group member Karen Cyson is a child-care provider in Stearns County and the coordinator for Central Minnesota Mensa. Her column is published the third Sunday of the month.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Karen Cyson: Centuries later, Americans are still drinking coffee
