Original subtitles

In 1773,

Boston is under the control

Of a distant tyrannical power.

In two months when that tea is on the docks,

The British will have their boots

Firmly planted on our necks.

We were never going to change their minds.

What we need to do

Is make up ours.

Against impossible odds,

One man refuses to give in.

I'm not saying it will be easy.

I'm not saying it won't be dangerous,

But we need to do whatever it takes.

This started in Boston.

It will end here.

Samuel Adams risks everything

To inspire a movement

And defy an empire.

Is anyone willing to take a stand for liberty?

But what he doesn't know

Is that he has lit the fuse.

Of course, they planned it.

That sparks a revolution.

Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.

Here we are.

Boston 1773,

On the verge of a revolution

That will turn the world upside down.

And what gets the ball rolling?

A protest over a tax on tea.

American patriots will go on to fight

The most powerful empire in the world and win.

But in the fall of 1773,

That outcome is very far off

And impossible to predict.

My own great-great

Great-great-great-grandfather

Was one of those patriots,

A Hessian soldier commissioned

To fight with the British

Was taken prisoner at the battle of Trenton.

Switched sides and went onto fight for the American cause.

One of countless stories that make-up the tapestry

Of our nation's rich past.

So I'm thrilled to be sharing with you

The inspiring story of the midnight mission

That started it all: The Boston tea party.

Sit back with a beer or maybe a cup of tea

As tensions with the British are simmering.

At the centre of the fray,

Is a brave and brilliant patriot named Samuel Adams.

One of those guys, we all know the type,

Who just will not back down no matter what.

For years Boston has been the most dangerous city

In the 13 colonies.

Boston really was an unruly place.

Mainly dock workers, longshoreman, ship workers.

Gangs fight each other to control the streets.

Boston was known for having neighbourhood gangs,

Namely the south end gang and the north end gang.

Eighteenth century Colonial towns are pretty rough places.

But one man has helped to unite the two gangs.

His name is Samuel Adams.

A 51-year-old Harvard graduate

Who inherited a beer business from his father.

But after failing as a businessman,

He found his true calling in politics.

His passion has brought the factions of Boston together

To stand against a common enemy.

The British,

Whose parliament passes laws

And collects taxes as they please.

Parliament says, "we're parliament.

"You all are British subjects.

"You're going to pay these taxes

"that British subjects at home already pay."

It shouldn't surprise us that

Working-class people in Boston,

Sailors, dock workers, were feeling the squeeze

Of the acts of parliament.

The American colonists were not directly represented.

They had no say over any taxes

That parliament might try to impose on the colonists.

As the British tightened their grip on the colonies,

Some in Boston rise up.

Unlike the other large settlements in North America,

Philadelphia, new york, Charleston,

Boston had this feeling that if the

Government was getting too tyrannical,

It was actually a good thing to resist.

It's not like the Boston tea party comes out of the blue.

Boston had been a hot bed of radicalism.

Tax collectors getting tarred and feathered.

Some of them were just ready for a fight,

And Sam Adams has connections that he was

Able to galvanise some of that energy.

Samuel Adams,

Together with a growing resistance,

Have defied the Crown at every turn,

And now the British are striking back.

I like a good cup of tea

As much as the next man, I suppose,

But we have such a healthy supply

Of a clearly superior alternative.

Even though Samuel Adams

Is a legitimate political leader,

He's willing to give up everything

To end British oppression.

Adams writes hundreds of articles

Each pushing the people to take a stand.

Samuel Adams' main weapon as a politician

Was newspaper essays,

And he wrote under a variety of pseudonyms.

Samuel isn't really interested in business.

He's interested in politics,

And he is able to talk to anyone.

He's able to talk to the longshoreman, the dock workers,

As well as to members of the elite.

Sam Adams is engaged actively in politics.

He's elected to the Massachusetts house of representatives.

He's also in touch with the local mobs,

The guys who know how to

Get local roughnecks together

And do whatever needs to be done.

Samuel is also a prominent member

Of an underground movement known as the Sons of Liberty.

Sons of Liberty were a group

Of like-minded Bostonians originally,

Who wanted to oppose the British empire,

Particularly on the issue of taxation.

The Sons of Liberty starts out

As a kind of catchall term for people

Who wanted to resist the acts of parliament, right;

People who were defending American interests,

People who were standing up for American rights.

Samuel works with the Sons of Liberty

To stay one step ahead of the British.

Receiving information from an underground network,

He gets word that ships have departed from London

Carrying over 250 tonnes of tea.

Good job.

Another round for my friends.

Good day, gentlemen.

In the fall of 1773,

Adams learnt that the British

Were putting into motion their new tea act,

And four of several ships are coming to Boston.

The way the tea act worked

The British East India company

Could ship its tea across cross the Atlantic,

And then would sell it wholesale

Within the four major American ports:

Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

This tea isn't just tea.

It represents much more.

It comes bearing a new tax,

And if it's collected,

Samuel Adams knows it will set a precedent

Allowing the British to tax the colonies at will.

These shipments are on their way to Boston,

And if those shipment's landed, the fear was,

That once the tea was there, it would inevitable be sold,

And the duty on it would be paid.

And so, this would be giving up

This important principle of,

"no taxation without representation."

once the tea comes off the boats,

The tea act will have had its effect,

And there will be nothing he can do about it.

Samuel knows he must stop the tea,

And hopes to persuade the house of representatives

To back him.

But many powerful Bostonians

Are determined to stay in the King's good graces,

Like judge Timothy Ruggles.

Therefore, I would preach caution and decorum.

Of course, we can continue to make our case

Before the King and parliament,

But to do so we must do so...

Forgive me, Mr Ruggles.

But while you're up there pontificating,

About minding our manners,

There are British ships bound for Boston as we speak

Carrying thousands of pounds of tea.

Don't be a fool.

Our petitions are nothing more than lining

For the royal bird cage.

We were never going to change their minds.

What we need to do is make up ours.

Is anyone willing to take a stand for liberty?

For autonomy?

For the people?

I appreciate your passion, Mr Adams,

But our hands are tied.

No.

No, yours may be tied,

But I stand ready to do what I must...

You know as well as I do that governor Hutchinson

Doesn't take his orders from us.

Well, then we demand his resignation.

Be reasonable, Mr Adams.

And we demand the resignation of all tea agents.

And you, you make it very clear to the Crown that

We will never accept one single leaf of their tea.

There were elements of the

Massachusetts house of representatives

Who felt that Samuel Adams was too radical.

So Samuel Adams is by no means universally beloved.

There are definitely people who want to take

A more moderate or even conservative line

In Massachusetts at the time.

If this body will not take action, the people will.

If this body will not take action, the people will.

Even Samuel's younger cousin, John Adams,

Thinks his beliefs are too extreme.

John Adams is much less well known at the time.

He is a very moral and thoughtful

And ideological young lawyer,

So, while they share the same political positions,

Their modes of action are quite different.

John Adams was a lawyer.

He sees the virtues of moderate forms of government.

He is committed to the rights of new Englanders,

But he is not thought of as a street leader

In way that Samuel Adams is.

It didn't go as well as you planned.

Well, it might have gone better

If you'd offered some words of support.

You demand the governor's resignation.

He's not going anywhere, Samuel.

I thought you were on our side.

I share your frustration and your concern,

But I do think you might be overreacting.

In two months when that tea is on the docks,

The British will have their boots firmly planted

In our necks.

I am not overreacting.

I'm resisting before it's too late, John.

Let's talk about tea for a moment, shall we?

At the time, everyone's drinking it every day,

Men, women, children, both in Britain and the colonies.

When the British parliament passes the tea act in 1773,

They're hoping to use the popularity of the tea

To their political advantage.

Here's the deal.

The new law gives the powerful British East India company

A monopoly on the Colonial tea trade.

If you're a tea drinker in

Boston, Philadelphia, or Charleston,

And all you hear about is getting a good quality tea,

You might think this is fine.

Except the British sneak in a tax on the tea

To try to prove, once again, that they can tax

The Americans all the way from London

Without their consent.

They've been doing this for years.

Taxing paper, stamps, lead, paint, glass, you name it,

And if the Sons of Liberty don't draw the line now,

They might never get another chance.

With the Massachusetts house of representatives

Showing him no support

And even his own cousin doubting him,

Samuel Adams knows he has to turn to

A member of the Sons of Liberty, John Hancock.

John Hancock is one of the wealthiest men in Boston,

If not in all of new England.

The tea act has Hancock

Worried about his bottom line.

While he's a prominent merchant

And a well-respected member of society,

Hancock is also a smuggler.

Gentlemen, excuse me what is going on here?

I am the owner of this warehouse.

There must be some sort of mistake.

There's no mistake.

Hancock has increased his fortune

Smuggling goods like wine and tea into Boston.

Every once in a while, you had to evade custom's officers,

Bribe them, intimidate them, one way or another,

In order to get business done

In the places you wanted to do business.

As I said, there's been a mistake.

John Hancock knows the tea act

Is a threat to his smuggling business

And his livelihood.

Both smugglers and legitimate merchants in tea

Had reasons to fear what the tea acts

And acts like it might do.

Well?

This is going to be very bad for business.

To say nothing of liberty.

Now,

When it comes to the house...

The house? We don't need them.

We can organise enough public pressure

To turn the ships back,

To force resignations.

I'm not saying it will be easy.

I'm not saying it won't be dangerous,

But, John, we need to do whatever it takes.

And how much do you suppose

Whatever it takes will cost me?

Not less than what it will cost you in two months.

What you're talking about is akin to treason.

It may be.

I'm going to need to think about this.

Samuel Adams had not had a successful life

In terms of money.

He's not a wealthy merchant like John Hancock.

What he does is something at which he excels:

Organising a revolution.

If you're in, meet me tomorrow.

The green dragon half past two.

Good day, John.

For John Hancock,

The decision to join Samuel Adams' resistance

Is not one he takes lightly.

He could lose his whole fortune

If things don't go their way,

And he knows who they're up against.

Opposing Samuel Adams

Is the most powerful man in Massachusetts,

A man with deep roots in the colony:

Governor Thomas Hutchinson.

Unlike past governors,

Whose salaries were paid by the Massachusetts house,

Hutchinson receives his salary

Directly from the British Crown.

Thomas Hutchinson's family had been

In Massachusetts as long as the Adams has.

When he's appointed governor,

He takes his duties very seriously,

And so over time he becomes more and more of an enemy

To the people in Boston, to the Sons of Liberty

Who are trying to resist the acts of parliament.

For men like Samuel Adams,

Thomas Hutchinson was a corrupt man

Driven by ambition seeking favours

From the British government.

And for his loyal service to the Crown,

The tea act is his reward.

The tea act creates a monopoly

For legal tea imported to America

For the East India company.

It allows the East India company

To provide tea to Americans

At a cheaper price,

But it reinvokes this principle that Americans are subjects

To taxes imposed on them by parliament.

Only tea agents can make money from the tea,

And Hutchinson appointed the tea agents.

If you got the job of being an agent

For the British East India company,

That meant you were one of the

Half dozen or fewer people in your town

Who were getting all the legal tea.

And this was a very lucrative position

Because everybody wanted tea,

And you were the guy.

Hutchinson makes sure to choose agents

That would make him a lot of money.

And in Boston this looks particularly ugly,

Because one of the firms was

Two of governor Hutchinson's sons.

Very good.

Send him in.

Along with his sons,

He appoints close friend Richard Clark as tea agent.

Richard, so good to see you again.

My pleasure as always, governor.

Well, you must be tired after your travels.

Come, sit.

Have some tea.

So, I trust your time in London was productive?

Oh, very much so.

Did you have an audience with His Majesty?

Sadly, no,

But we were able to spend a good deal of time hunting with

Lord north in Oxfordshire.

Is the Prime Minister well?

I trust you gave him my regard?

Of course, and he sent his best to you as well.

He did however express some concern over

The growing sentiment against the tea act.

He did?

And I must say upon my arrival back in Boston,

It does seem as if public sentiment had shifted somewhat.

Richard, please, you are too intelligent

To fall prey to a few loud voices

Raising a racket in Boston.

The common citizens of Massachusetts,

Frankly, they're either too busy

Or too ignorant to notice.

Rebellions without rebels are little

More than a nuisance to be ignored.

As much as I want that too be true,

What I've been hearing is...

What you're hearing is what they want you to hear,

Exaggeration and lies,

While I am stating to you the facts.

But,

If you truly have reservations about moving forward,

There are many others who would welcome the opportunity.

No reservations, governor.

I'm so glad we had this little chat.

Thomas Hutchinson was a politician,

Who believed in the British empire,

As an empire of liberty,

That guaranteed the rights of the colonists,

And, therefore, needed to be protected

Even if it meant stepping on the toes

Of quite a few colonists.

Hutchinson's going to wait and see

What the radicals are going to do.

Samuel Adams calls a meeting to set a plan in motion

To defeat governor Hutchinson and foil the tea act.

The Sons of Liberty would often meet in taverns.

In Boston, you might meet at the green dragon tavern

In order to coordinate political action.

Hello, gentlemen.

He invites John Hancock

And three major figures in the Sons of Liberty.

Samuel Adams never works alone.

He is generally working in groups

Of other like-minded patriot leaders.

I don't suppose I need to tell you

Why I've asked you all here today.

There is Paul Revere, the messenger.

Paul Revere is not an elite leader by any means.

He's this middle-class guy.

He's a silversmith.

He's an engraver.

He acts as a courier.

Revere would often travel across the colony.

Delivering secret messages for the Sons of Liberty.

Sometimes putting his freedom and life in jeopardy.

Paul Revere was so deeply involved in the movement

And had been involved in the movement for many years,

People trusted him with these important messages.

Revere's dedication to the cause

No matter the cost,

Earns him a top spot in Samuel Adams inner circle.

Also attending the meeting

Is Dr Joseph Warren, the scribe.

Samuel Adams was very good at recognising talent,

And recruiting people into the cause.

And Joseph Warren is someone

Whose talent he sees immediately,

And sees how Warren is really a skilful writer.

He was in many ways a protege of Samuel Adams.

Dr Warren's life was transformed

Three years earlier on a March night in 1770.

When a protest spirals out of control.

British red coats open fire on an unarmed crowd

Killing five civilians.

The tragedy will become known as the Boston massacre.

And it changes Warren forever.

It's okay.

You'll be fine.

Bearing witness to the

British army's heartless brutality,

Radicalises the young doctor.

You just be still.

Warren, he sees then the real

Physical effects of British policy.

And so, it does make him wary of people who use brute force.

And finally,

There's William Molineux, the muscle.

William Molineux was probably the most

Radical of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty.

Always the one pushing things as far as things could go

And not afraid to use violence.

A merchant and smuggler,

Irish-born William Molineux,

Isn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

Eight years earlier

In August of 1765,

He personally led a mob

To governor Hutchinson's mansion

In protest over another British tax

Called the stamp act.

Let's burn it down.

And burned it to the ground.

With his team assembled,

Dr Warren to write the message,

Paul Revere to deliver it,

Hancock to fund it,

And William Molineux to enforce it,

Samuel reveals his plan.

We invite Hutchinson tea agents,

In friendly conversation,

About colonists' rights.

We explain to them that if they resign,

The tea cannot be delivered,

And they'll be heroes.

They'll reap the rewards of a grateful colony,

Instead of the ill-gotten gains of a tyrannical Crown.

And you suspect that they'll actually show their faces?

We must give them the chance.

Our first salvo should be an olive branch,

And I know just the man to do it.

I'll print the invitations up directly.

Meet me at Hancock's warehouse to pick them up.

I look forward to it.

Mr Molineux,

I trust that you'll do your best to avoid any incidents?

Well, it's certainly my intention.

A simple, of course, would have my mind at greater ease.

You have my word, John.

Gentlemen.

Why do I feel like I've just been lied to?

Molineux is a man of his word.

Molineux is a man of the moment.

Sam, if something were to go wrong,

There's no telling what would happen here.

Nothing will go wrong.

He's delivering invitations,

And when the tea agents resign publicly,

This crisis will be a memory.

See you tomorrow.

Samuel Adams is very good at working behind the scenes.

He knows what he's doing.

He's organising a conspiracy to overthrow British rule.

Under cover of night,

Molineux and his men go out to deliver

The invitations to the tea agents,

Including governor Hutchinson's sons,

Along with Richard Clark.

With the invitations delivered,

The next day Samuel Adams waits for the tea agents,

But not a single tea agent shows up.

Samuel Adams' plan to resolve the crisis

Through political dialogue has failed.

With only a month left before the tea arrives,

Adams needs to ratchet up the pressure.

Because if he can get the tea agents to resign,

The tea will be sent back to England.

"Okay, you're going to try and tax us without our consent.

"We're going to pressure the consignees.

"We're going to pressure the governors.

"We're going to force these tea ships to turn around

"with their tea still aboard and go back to London."

And so, Boston is really feeling a lot of pressure.

As their tea ships began approaching Boston Harbour,

They're feeling a lot of pressure to make sure

That they are not going to allow this tea to land.

There was a great deal of tension in Boston.

Molineux returns back to the Clark's house

To secure the tea agents' resignations

No matter what it takes.

Richard and Jonathan Clark,

The people would have a word,

And if you won't come out,

Then we'll have no choice but to let ourselves in.

Grab our muskets before we're dead.

Go.

Get back. I'm warning you.

I will shoot.

We are warning you, sir?

Things are heating up in Boston, to put it mildly.

On one side we have governor Hutchinson and the tea agents,

On the other the Sons of Liberty and their supporters.

A total stand-off.

It's also about to become a race against the clock.

The tea ships are sailing from London.

If the tea is unloaded and taxed,

The British will have won,

By proving that they can tax the Americans

Without their say.

Over the next three episodes, keep this in mind.

Absolutely nothing is set in stone.

Every move the Sons of Liberty make is a tremendous gamble,

But what they have is a willingness to fight

And an unwavering belief in their cause.