I’m Not Laughing at You, I’m Laughing With You: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Laughter

Abstract

One of our nation’s most significant stories of patriotic pride and political protest is the tale of the Boston Tea Party of 1773 that resonated with the slogan “no taxation without representation” and sparked the flame of rebellion that led to the American Revolution. The event is a watershed in our history, not only for the way that it led the colonies to independence, but also for how the story is understood today. Of interest is the fact that the event was originally referred to as “The Destruction of the Tea in Boston”—a name that apparently was referred to infrequently since it seemed negative. Alfred Young explains that writers in our newly independent nation were “reluctant to celebrate the destruction of property, and so the event was usually ignored in histories of the American Revolution.”¹ That would all change, though, with proper branding. Once the event was referred to as “The Tea Party,” it not only shed the negativity of “destruction,” but it also added a fun twist of irony that made the event symbolic of the swashbuckling, yet witty, nature of many of our nation’s early leaders.