Original subtitles

Okay, here's the plan.

We're going to have 30 men

Aboard each ship.

Molineux, you're gonna be in charge of the beaver.

Revere, you the Dartmouth.

The tea is stored in the hold.

What you need to do is get your men onto the ship

And throw it overboard.

If we approach after dark,

We can climb the bow,

Thin out across the deck.

It's not gonna work for the Dartmouth.

It's too close to the guardhouse.

We'd have to find a slip or...

Even if we manage to get on the ship undetected...

We will.

We will.

And if they manage to throw all of the tea

Into the harbour...

Enough of your ifs, Doc.

This plan will work.

And I want it to work as much as you

But even if they threw all of the tea into the harbour,

How do we know that the British

Won't come directly after us?

Because they won't.

Damn it, can you just be straight with us?

Jesus.

They won't because we won't be there.

With just nine days to go before the deadline,

Samuel Adams is planning a heist unlike any other;

A simultaneous night time raid

On the tea ships in Boston harbour.

The men will sneak on board,

Dump the tea,

And do it before the British have a chance to react.

At least that's the plan.

If they succeed, the tea will be ruined.

Governor Hutchinson will be humiliated

And the Sons of Liberty will send a powerful message

To the British parliament and king George III.

The message, no taxation without representation.

If they fail,

The governor will order the redcoats aboard the tea ships,

Seize the tea by force,

And make the tea act a reality,

And deal a devastating blow to the patriot cause.

With the December 16th deadline looming,

Governor Hutchinson will soon be able

To seize the tea by force.

Knowing this,

The Sons of Liberty lay the groundwork for what's to come.

Just the man I wanted to see.

In order to work, the plan requires

No fewer than 90 able-bodied men.

But they can't just enlist anyone.

Dumping the tea is a big job,

And it requires people who know something about ships.

I'm organising a group of patriots.

Paul Revere heads down to the docks,

Enlisting known patriots,

And letting them know the rendezvous point

For the coming night.

The operation is so secretive

That most of these young men's names

Are unknown to us even today.

Of course, no one wanted to talk about it.

There were no records in terms of who participated in it.

Hope to see you there.

So it has just gone down in history

As kind of a mystery about who exactly was involved.

While men are recruited to raid the ships,

Dr Warren prepares an alibi

Calling for an urgent rally in the old south meeting house

Where Samuel Adams and John Hancock

Will be seen by numerous witnesses.

Having deniability is essential.

Because without it,

They would face charges of treason,

A hanging offence.

This is a town of only 16,000 people.

Everybody knows what everyone is doing

At any time in Boston.

It was meant to be clear to everyone

That these leading political figures

Were not directly involved.

Understanding that the Sons of Liberty

Must be preparing something,

Governor Hutchinson readies Admiral Montagu,

The commander of the British naval forces in Boston,

To be on alert.

Admiral Montagu, as a military man,

As a British naval officer,

He doesn't want to provoke a war

With people who are also part of the British empire.

So with his orders from the governor,

Montagu prepares the British navy

For some possible trouble at the docks.

But he does it with strict adherence to British law.

I want regular foot patrols

Across the docks throughout the night.

And train every available cannon on the east wall

Of castle William upon the harbour.

- That's all. - Yes, sir.

If you need to contact me for any reason,

I'll be at dinner.

Unless it absolutely warrants an interruption.

Yes, sir.

While Montagu is ready to stop the ships

From leaving with the tea,

His hands are tied if they stay docked in the harbour.

The ship itself is private property.

This cargo is private property.

There are all sorts of elaborate rules and laws

About how the government is supposed to keep its hands off

British subjects' property.

Despite every effort taken,

John Hancock must reassure Samuel Adams.

Everyone knows where to meet?

Yes, Paul's shop.

Sam, we've been over this a hundred times.

I know.

But we cannot afford to have one piece out of place.

Can we trust these men to keep their mouth shut?

Molineux hand-picked most of them.

I should hope they wouldn't cross him.

Good point.

Now we just have to hope for a good turnout.

I'm already hearing talk in the streets.

What is it?

The third ship's arrived.

With the arrival of the Eleanor,

The urgency is overwhelming.

The moment to act has arrived.

Both sides know that tonight will be the deciding moment.

This real turning point, December 17th,

Is the day, the 20th day.

The ships have to have left by then.

So we know at midnight of the 16th is the big moment.

With less than 24 hours left

Before the deadline of the Dartmouth passes,

The Sons of Liberty put their plan into action.

First, the men start to gather in Revere's silversmith shop.

Thirty minutes till sunset, men.

Prepare yourselves.

Next, Samuel Adams,

John Hancock and Dr. Warren

Take their place at the town hall.

Samuel Adams and a number of other

Important political leaders

Were at the head of this meeting

At the old south meeting house.

While the people of Boston

Gathered to hear Samuel Adams speak,

With the crowd's attention,

He makes one last play at diplomacy.

One that's sure to get the governor's attention.

You, join me.

I want you to meet the owner of the Dartmouth,

One of the ships

That has brought English tea into Boston harbour.

But as a dedicated patriot,

He has refused to unload that tea

And allow it into our city.

Well done. Well done.

We have petitioned governor Hutchinson

To send his tea back to England.

We've demanded his tea agents resign.

The answer

Has been silence,

Dismissal

And disrespect.

They have underestimated our resolve.

Tonight, our friend will go

To governor Hutchinson with one last appeal.

He will inform the governor

That the people of Boston want no part of this tea,

And its tyrannical taxes its leaves are laced with.

- Go for it. Go for it. - Yes.

And that this is his last chance

To do the right and honourable thing

And send it back to England.

Yes. Send it back.

Send it back.

Send it back.

Send it back.

According to Adams,

Governor Hutchinson had the power

To issue a warrant to let the ship sail.

They send Francis Rotch, the ship owner,

Out to Milton, where governor Hutchinson is.

Send it back.

Send it back.

- You can do this. - Send it back.

Send it back.

Send it back.

Send it back.

Send it back.

While Francis Rotch petitions

The governor one last time,

The men prepare to raid the ships.

To conceal their identities,

The Sons of Liberty dress in disguise,

Taking inspiration from native American tribes.

They'll never see it coming.

Now why did they choose Indians?

We don't actually know one way or another.

It could have been that they thought

Of an Indian disguise as fearsome, right?

And so it would intimidate people.

It could be that they thought,

Oh, native Americans have resisted

The British empire in various ways.

It was a distraction.

It's hard to identify a bunch of guys

Disguised as Mohawk Indians.

So if, you know, you get asked by the authorities,

You know, "who did this?"

Well, you're gonna be describing them

As native Americans, right?

It's a perfect disguise.

Do we want liberty?

Yes. And our freedom.

Do we want tyranny?

No. Down with the crown.

As the Sons of Liberty

Wait for the signal to move out,

Rotch returns from the governor's mansion.

Francis Rotch was a merchant.

He tended to trim his sails to adjust his political stance

To whatever was best for himself.

He was trying to play both sides.

Tell us, sir,

Has the governor come to his senses

And agreed to our terms?

No, sir.

No. No.

Down with the governor.

He has not.

No. Down with the governor.

Francis Rotch came back and said,

"I have talked to the governor again.

He would not, he still won't compromise."

My friend, I want to thank you

For doing your patriotic duty.

And it should be clear to us now

That the governor has no interest in serving

The people of the Massachusetts colony.

So I'm afraid

This meeting can do no more good for our country.

Adam's words are chosen carefully.

They're words that will launch what will become known as

The Boston tea party.

According to witnesses, at that moment,

There was a yell outside,

And some young men started to leave the meeting.

Let's go, people. Let's go.

We know that at that moment,

There's a war whoop from the balcony,

A war whoop from out from the street.

We are ready.

We are ready.

We're ready.

We're ready.

We're ready.

We're ready.

It's not just the town of Boston

That has its eyes on Samuel Adams.

He knows that all 13 colonies are paying attention.

Adams wants to show his fellow Americans

That the Sons of Liberty have tried everything they can

To avoid drastic measures.

With only hours before the midnight deadline,

Adams stood before a crowd at the Boston town hall

And said, "I'm afraid this meeting

Can do no more good for our country."

Well that might sound like the words

Of a defeated politician,

He was really speaking in code.

It was a prearranged cue

For the Sons of Liberty to spring into action.

Suddenly dozens of patriots

Who've been waiting for this signal

Make their way to the docks

And converge on the tea ships.

Upon receiving the signal,

The Sons of Liberty sneak through the streets of Boston,

Down to the harbour.

As the patriots close in,

Admiral Montagu has ordered the navy

To prevent the ships from leaving the harbour.

He believes that's the most likely move on the tea.

Confident the situation is under control,

He attends a dinner party.

I must say, Mr. Fuller, seeing you here

With your lovely wife reminds me

How much I miss my Sophia all the more.

I'm sure she misses you too, Admiral.

The nature of a life in the navy.

While Montagu is enjoying the dinner party,

The Sons of Liberty split up

And separately board each of the ships.

There were three groups.

There was somebody designated to be in charge of each ship.

It was a very controlled event.

The men went aboard in very disciplined fashion.

Part of this plan was make sure

To destroy no other property

And to leave no tea behind.

They're trying to send a really specific

Clear political signal to British authorities

Because they wanted to distinguish their actions

From an undisciplined mob riot.

Fan out.

Search the deck.

Search every crate.

Have you found anything?

Anything?

Where is the tea?

While the Sons of Liberty struggle

To find the tea chests on the beaver,

They're having better luck

Aboard the Dartmouth and the Eleanor.

They're going about their job as longshoremen,

Which many of them probably were,

Knowing how to tie lines

And to, well you know, hoist tackle,

And then to cut open a chest of tea.

These guys know what they're doing

And are able to do it quite effectively.

Let's have ourselves a talk with the captain.

What have we here?

No need a worry, captain.

No one here is gonna hurt you

So long as you tell us where the tea is.

My dear, sir,

I am not going to ask you again.

Well, you leave me no choice.

- It's on the deck. - I checked the deck.

Marked

Madeira wine.

You made the right choice.

With all the tea crates located,

The Sons of Liberty prepare to throw every leaf overboard

While Samuel Adams continues

To keep the public's eyes on him.

We must act now.

We must act now.

The time has come for us to have our say.

Do we want to continue lining the pockets of men

Who don't represent our interests?

No. No.

Of course not.

The question is, what are we willing to do about it?

So as these men destroy the tea,

Samuel Adams, John Hancock,

The real leaders of this are making speeches.

When governor Hutchinson wants to start

Arresting people for this,

These people will be at the top of the list

Because he knows they must have been organising this.

But no, no, we were at old south meeting house.

We don't know what was happening down on the wharf.

Crate by crate, the Sons of Liberty

Dumped every leaf of tea into the harbour.

Being a longshoreman is dangerous anyway.

And here you're also doing something that is illegal.

They're trying to get this done as quickly as they can

So that if the governor does call out

A militia to try to arrest them,

Or Admiral Montagu sends a squad to arrest them,

They want to be done before that can happen.

With the two boys grown and serving His Majesty,

She is at home with just our daughter for company.

I do worry.

Well, not all husbands would.

She's very lucky.

Well, I do hope you meet her someday

And tell her just that.

If you'll excuse me.

- Yes? - Admiral,

There's been some activity at the docks.

Aboard the beaver and the Dartmouth.

I see.

Did the ship leave the docks?

No, sir.

No need for action at this time.

If the ship does leave the dock, let me know.

Until then, I'll return to my guests.

Where was I?

Apologies, just a little...

in keeping with British naval law,

Admiral Montagu has no power to intervene

Unless the ships try to depart the harbour.

Admiral Montagu doesn't do anything.

Montagu didn't want to start a war.

They're doing this very peacefully.

There's no destruction of lives.

Certainly no attack on the British navy,

These are American ships.

Without someone calling him out

And asking him to intervene,

You know he's not meant to be a policeman, right?

He is, you know, he can only be called

When it's a military situation.

And no one bothers to do that.

That's it.

Sweep up.

In less than three hours,

All 342 chests of English tea

Are dumped into Boston harbour.

They were very careful not to damage the ships themselves

So that nobody could complain

That any property had been damaged beyond repair,

Any property had been lost except the tea.

With the tea destroyed,

The Sons of Liberty have succeeded.

Cheers to that.

The Boston tea party will come to be known

As one of the greatest acts of protest in American history.

The Boston tea party has come to be remembered

As an act of civil disobedience.

It's an act of property destruction,

But it's fundamentally peaceful in some ways,

In its protest against an unjust law.

What Americans love about the story

Of the Boston tea party and of the revolution

Is that it's the story of a group of people

Who did their utmost to preserve the liberties

That they held most dear.

Admiral Montagu.

Governor.

I apologise for keeping you waiting.

This is rather an early hour and James had to awaken me.

Governor, I apologise but the matter is serious.

I'll keep this brief.

The situation at the harbour is worse than we thought.

The regiment from castle William has arrived at the docks.

So what could possibly be the problem?

The tea is no longer in the ships.

Well, where is it then?

Find it and have it seized.

It is at the bottom of the harbour.

So seizing it is not an option we can choose.

I'm having trouble understanding.

How...

The ships were raided during the night.

A gang of men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded the ships,

Located the tea

And dumped every last leaf into the harbour.

Governor, we have to do something about...

James.

Hutchinson is shocked when he discovers

The tea on the ships has been so thoroughly destroyed.

He had not imagined that the radicals would go so far

As to destroy so much private property

In order to specifically defy his administration.

Do you think you know who did this?

Oh I do, Admiral.

Mark my words,

They will pay.

They will pay.

The news of the Boston tea party

Spreads like wildfire through the colonies.

When the news reaches London,

King George III is outraged

And decides to make an example of Massachusetts

For thwarting his rule.

And that, my friends, is how revolutions take shape,

As we'll see in the conclusion

Of "liberty or death:

Boston tea party."