When the Beaver, Eleanor, and Dartmouth all docked in Boston Harbor the colonists would not let them unload the tea.  Thomas Hutchinson, wanting the tea landed, would not let the ships depart without leaving the cargo.  He blocked the way out of the harbor.  The Tea Act required that tax be collected within 20 days of a ship’s arrival.  Hutchinson figured the tea would either be unloaded freely or by the law.  Either way the colonists would pay tax on the tea.  The Boston Tea Party stopped the ordered unloading of the tea. 

Did Thomas Hutchinson have any other reason, other than the law, to want the tea landed?  A major part of the Tea Act said that only certain merchants could sell the British East India Company tea.  These merchants were called tea consignees.  Two of Boston’s tea consignees were brothers Thomas Hutchinson Jr. and Elisha Hutchinson.  Does the name ring a bell again?  Yes.  Okay, two “Deano Points” this time.

Thomas Hutchinson