The Modern-Day Tea Party - A Research Paper by Me! :D
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:40 pmThe Modern-Day Tea Party
A research paper that I did for my government class. It's over the short history of the group and the different views on how patriotic it is.
Publius Cornelius Tacticus was a senator and historian of Rome who died in AD 117. In The Annals, it is written, “corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.” In English, this is translates as, “With the infection in the state at its peak, the number of laws was at its greatest.” (Mawr) Or more simply, “a state with many laws is most corrupt.” This is a key ideological view of the newly emerging political party called the Tea Party. But, what exactly is the Tea Party? This research paper takes a look at multiple sources of reference (neutral and bias, alike) to find out exactly who the members are and what the Tea Party stands for.
On the Tea Party Movement’s official website, they state that, “[We are a] community committed to standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to protect our country and the Constitution upon which we were founded!” (Meckler) Their most general political stance is that the government should either be more strictly limited or that it should not be allowed to expand and grow bigger. More key points under Tea Party’s platform are the opinion that our economy should be anti-stimulus and anti-bailout. Members of the party believe that the economy must be that of a free market that with these factors, will lead to an economy free of deficit. (Arnold)
The beginnings of the Tea Party are traced all the way to February of 2009 when Obama was signing into law the stimulus bill. There were protesters is many cities- However, specifically in Denver, protesters demanded, “No More Pork!” These protests had somewhat of a pork-theme, but it was not until a post on a conservative blog called “From the Boston Tea Party to your neighborhood pork protest” by Michelle Malkin that the correlation between the protests and the Boston Tea Party appeared. Hundreds of thousands of citizens assembled in over 800 cities on Tax Day of that same year (in August) to express their opinions toward what they considered to be irrational spending by the government (Wood) through the stimulus package. (Zernike & Thee-Brenan) Later that year, in September, more than half of a million people marched to protest at the U.S. Capitol. (Wood) These movements have evolved to also include protests of the Wall Street bailouts. (Arnold) The participants within the protests have been criticized as unpatriotic and have been considered radically dangerous. Even former President Bill Clinton has urged caution in regards to the Tea Party Movement because he fears that it could potentially create its own militia (Bowyer) which may consequently be driven by anti-government anger. Why was there a connection between tea and these protests and exactly how unpatriotic is this movement? There are varying views as to the legitimacy of the protests held by the Tea Party Movement (Bowyer) but one thing is certain: There is a strong connection between our Founding Fathers’ viewpoints and the modern Tea Party members’ viewpoints.
In the 1760’s, Great Britain both desired and needed the revenue from their American Colonies. Therefore, taxes on imported goods were established. The first was the Sugar Act in 1764 which parliament used to increase the price of non-British goods to the colonists in order to encourage them to import mostly from the motherland. Next was the Currency Act, (also passed in 1764) that prohibited colonists from minting and using their own form of currency. During the following years, more acts were passed that prolonged and strengthened the anger of the colonists because they felt that they had no actual representation in British Parliament. There was no way to politically protect them, so the colonists decided to refuse to use English goods as a way of protesting. Eventually, the tension led to the decision of British deployment in the colonies. Tension continued to escalade and on March 5th of 1770, the Boston Massacre took place. A group of soldiers were surrounded by hostile colonists and began firing to protect themselves, severely wounding two Americans and killing three others.
In 1773, the Tea act was passed that granted a reduction in taxation for tea from the British East India Company, giving British importers an extreme advantage over other importers. In December, British tea ships made their way to Boston where the royal governor ordered the colonists to pay importation taxes. Many of the colonists wanted the ships to go back to England so that they would not have to pay the taxes. In the morning of December 16th, a group of protesters boarded the tea ships and dumped the received shipments of tea into the harbor. This event was later known as the Boston Tea Party and lead to the anger of the English government. Eventually, a backlash occurred, and a war was waged with England so that the colonies could claim their independence. (Boston Tea Party Historical Society) The Boston Tea Party was lash against the government because of oppression. The English colonists wanted the same rights as all other English citizens living in the English mainland- Including fair representation in parliament. The colonists also wanted to have a free market, with little to no taxes from the government. The free market that they wanted also would be free of government protected companies such as the British East India Company mentioned previously. (Arnold)
Christen Varley is the president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, a modern-day Tea Party organization for the Tea Party Movement. She states that, “The root of it is we believe in limited government and personal responsibility and individual liberty – those are our core principles.” These core principles that Varley is referring to are the same principles that led the colonists to extreme protesting of the English government and English trade. It is with these principles that lead to the foundation of the great nation of the United States of America (Arnold), and therefore, members of the Tea Party Movement believe that what they are doing is the most patriotic political stance that one can take.
According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, the general majority of Tea Party members directly relate to the general public: Most respondents stated they wish for a smaller government, that they believe the amount of taxes they pay are fair, and Medicare and Social Security are worth the taxes that are spent on them. However, an overwhelming majority of the modern-day Tea Party Movement believe that President Obama “does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves.” Furthermore, only 10 percent would approve of President Obama’s policies and regulations overall. Also unlike the general public, the members surveyed indicated that they feel that the problems that black people face are out of proportion as to what they believe they truly do face. According to the New York Times/CBS poll, 90 percent of the Tea Party Movement believes that the country’s economy is moving into the wrong direction. Only 60 percent of the general public believes that this is true. Additionally, 60 percent would say that the best of America’s years in job security and availability are in the past. Overall, most Americans put the blame for the current economic situation on Former President Bush’s administration or Wall Street, more of the Tea Partiers believe that the blame belongs to Congress. (Zernike & Thee-Brenan)
The Tea Party Movement may have very basic and fundamental connections to the ideal logy of the Founding Fathers, but it still receives an extensive amount of criticism besides being patriotic. Many believe that they are radical in nature and have a strong extremist rationality. Based on the New York Times/CBS survey, one in four Tea Partiers believes that violence against the government can be justified. (Fisher) The Tea Party has been receiving a lot of publicity, too, because of ruckus that they have caused. On March 20th, House Democrats prepared to approve a large piece of health-care legislation. On this day, several particular incidents occurred. Both parties’ congressional leaders denounced the series of occurrences because they were so terrible. Homosexual Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts was yelled at and harassed by a heckler calling him anti-homosexual slurs. Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a black politician from Missouri, was even spat upon. More instances arose when Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and Rep. André Carson of Indiana we ridiculed and insulted by being called racial slurs. (Alexander)
The violence and hatred has been portrayed to get so out of hand that people are somewhat afraid to join the party or call themselves Tea Partiers. Annabel Park was one of them. She created a page for the social networking site, Facebook, for a new political party called the Coffee Party that has the exact views as the Tea Party Movement except that they restrict members from acting violently and instead, asks them to pledge “to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest and respectful toward people with whom I disagree.” Park has gotten a lot of harassment from her party of over two hundred thousand members. Conservative-based groups have tried to convince people that Park worked for the Obama administration and that her site is funded by evil organizations. She denies these claims.
Similarly, many of the Tea Party Members claim that all or nearly all of the claims of the March 20th legislation signing incidences were fabricated to spread a rumor or trick people into believing that the Tea Party Movement is racist or evil. For instance, District reader Clarice Feldman stated that there was no proof or any evidence that these have occurred. There are other mainstream media outlets that are supporting this claim. Fortunately, there is evidence to support all of these claims. An ABC film crew precisely records a protester shouting, “Barney, you homosexual, or a pile a sticks,.” Another video shows Cleaver walking to sign the legislation and quickly jolting and then turning to a man standing adjacent to him. He then pointed and walked onward, wiping off his face. As for the claims of racial slurs, a reporter for the Hill newspaper was talking with a congressional staffer inside a House walkway into the Capitol when Carson, obviously shaken and scared, came in and tried to tell her to follow him back out. He said that he had been called racial slurs and he wanted to document it, but unfortunately, the U.S. Capitol Police prevented him from leaving the building for his safety. From inside, the people inside could hear the protesters shouting up to 15 times a racial slur. (Alexander)
It is unclear whether or not the Tea Party is going on its way to becoming disbanded or on its way to greater things, but there is one thing that everyone can agree on and that is that the Tea Party is here and it is unlike many of the failed political parties of the past. In the future, we may even see senators or even a president that is running under the Tea Party. It all comes down to fate to ultimately decide the fate of the Tea Party Movement.
Sources
Mawr, Bryn. "Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.07.15". Bryn Mawr. April 20th, 2010 <http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-07-15.html>.
Meckler, Mark. "Tea Party Patriots - Official Home of The American Tea Party Movement". Tea Party Patriots. April 20th, 2010 <http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/>.
Zernike, Kate & Thee-Brenan, Megan. "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated – NYTimes.com". New York Times. April 21th, 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html>.
"Boston Tea Party Historical Society". Boston Tea Party Historical Society. April 18th, 2010 <http://www.boston-tea-party.org/timeline.html>.
Wood, Laura. "Research and Markets: A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes - FOXBusiness.com". FOX Business . April 21st, 2010 <http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/media/research-markets-new-american-tea-party-counterrevolution-bailouts-handouts/>.
Arnold, Chris. "Tea Party Finds Inspiration In Boston History : NPR". NPR. April 12th, 2010 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125917175&ps=rs>.
Bowyer, Jerry. "Jerry Bowyer: Pennsylvania's Tea Party: Brewing for Years - WSJ.com". Wall Street Journal. April 10th, 2010 <Pennsylvania's Tea Party: Brewing for Years>.
Fisher, Max. "15 Years After Oklahoma City, Does Domestic Threat Remain? | The Atlantic Wire". The Atlantic Wire. April 10th, 2010 <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/15-Years-After-Oklahoma-City-Does-Domestic-Threat-Remain-3278/>.
Alexander, Andrew. "Andrew Alexander - Allegations of spitting and slurs at Capitol protest merit more reporting". The Washington Post. April 10th, 2010 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR20100409037
16.html>.
A research paper that I did for my government class. It's over the short history of the group and the different views on how patriotic it is.
Publius Cornelius Tacticus was a senator and historian of Rome who died in AD 117. In The Annals, it is written, “corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.” In English, this is translates as, “With the infection in the state at its peak, the number of laws was at its greatest.” (Mawr) Or more simply, “a state with many laws is most corrupt.” This is a key ideological view of the newly emerging political party called the Tea Party. But, what exactly is the Tea Party? This research paper takes a look at multiple sources of reference (neutral and bias, alike) to find out exactly who the members are and what the Tea Party stands for.
On the Tea Party Movement’s official website, they state that, “[We are a] community committed to standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to protect our country and the Constitution upon which we were founded!” (Meckler) Their most general political stance is that the government should either be more strictly limited or that it should not be allowed to expand and grow bigger. More key points under Tea Party’s platform are the opinion that our economy should be anti-stimulus and anti-bailout. Members of the party believe that the economy must be that of a free market that with these factors, will lead to an economy free of deficit. (Arnold)
The beginnings of the Tea Party are traced all the way to February of 2009 when Obama was signing into law the stimulus bill. There were protesters is many cities- However, specifically in Denver, protesters demanded, “No More Pork!” These protests had somewhat of a pork-theme, but it was not until a post on a conservative blog called “From the Boston Tea Party to your neighborhood pork protest” by Michelle Malkin that the correlation between the protests and the Boston Tea Party appeared. Hundreds of thousands of citizens assembled in over 800 cities on Tax Day of that same year (in August) to express their opinions toward what they considered to be irrational spending by the government (Wood) through the stimulus package. (Zernike & Thee-Brenan) Later that year, in September, more than half of a million people marched to protest at the U.S. Capitol. (Wood) These movements have evolved to also include protests of the Wall Street bailouts. (Arnold) The participants within the protests have been criticized as unpatriotic and have been considered radically dangerous. Even former President Bill Clinton has urged caution in regards to the Tea Party Movement because he fears that it could potentially create its own militia (Bowyer) which may consequently be driven by anti-government anger. Why was there a connection between tea and these protests and exactly how unpatriotic is this movement? There are varying views as to the legitimacy of the protests held by the Tea Party Movement (Bowyer) but one thing is certain: There is a strong connection between our Founding Fathers’ viewpoints and the modern Tea Party members’ viewpoints.
In the 1760’s, Great Britain both desired and needed the revenue from their American Colonies. Therefore, taxes on imported goods were established. The first was the Sugar Act in 1764 which parliament used to increase the price of non-British goods to the colonists in order to encourage them to import mostly from the motherland. Next was the Currency Act, (also passed in 1764) that prohibited colonists from minting and using their own form of currency. During the following years, more acts were passed that prolonged and strengthened the anger of the colonists because they felt that they had no actual representation in British Parliament. There was no way to politically protect them, so the colonists decided to refuse to use English goods as a way of protesting. Eventually, the tension led to the decision of British deployment in the colonies. Tension continued to escalade and on March 5th of 1770, the Boston Massacre took place. A group of soldiers were surrounded by hostile colonists and began firing to protect themselves, severely wounding two Americans and killing three others.
In 1773, the Tea act was passed that granted a reduction in taxation for tea from the British East India Company, giving British importers an extreme advantage over other importers. In December, British tea ships made their way to Boston where the royal governor ordered the colonists to pay importation taxes. Many of the colonists wanted the ships to go back to England so that they would not have to pay the taxes. In the morning of December 16th, a group of protesters boarded the tea ships and dumped the received shipments of tea into the harbor. This event was later known as the Boston Tea Party and lead to the anger of the English government. Eventually, a backlash occurred, and a war was waged with England so that the colonies could claim their independence. (Boston Tea Party Historical Society) The Boston Tea Party was lash against the government because of oppression. The English colonists wanted the same rights as all other English citizens living in the English mainland- Including fair representation in parliament. The colonists also wanted to have a free market, with little to no taxes from the government. The free market that they wanted also would be free of government protected companies such as the British East India Company mentioned previously. (Arnold)
Christen Varley is the president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, a modern-day Tea Party organization for the Tea Party Movement. She states that, “The root of it is we believe in limited government and personal responsibility and individual liberty – those are our core principles.” These core principles that Varley is referring to are the same principles that led the colonists to extreme protesting of the English government and English trade. It is with these principles that lead to the foundation of the great nation of the United States of America (Arnold), and therefore, members of the Tea Party Movement believe that what they are doing is the most patriotic political stance that one can take.
According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, the general majority of Tea Party members directly relate to the general public: Most respondents stated they wish for a smaller government, that they believe the amount of taxes they pay are fair, and Medicare and Social Security are worth the taxes that are spent on them. However, an overwhelming majority of the modern-day Tea Party Movement believe that President Obama “does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves.” Furthermore, only 10 percent would approve of President Obama’s policies and regulations overall. Also unlike the general public, the members surveyed indicated that they feel that the problems that black people face are out of proportion as to what they believe they truly do face. According to the New York Times/CBS poll, 90 percent of the Tea Party Movement believes that the country’s economy is moving into the wrong direction. Only 60 percent of the general public believes that this is true. Additionally, 60 percent would say that the best of America’s years in job security and availability are in the past. Overall, most Americans put the blame for the current economic situation on Former President Bush’s administration or Wall Street, more of the Tea Partiers believe that the blame belongs to Congress. (Zernike & Thee-Brenan)
The Tea Party Movement may have very basic and fundamental connections to the ideal logy of the Founding Fathers, but it still receives an extensive amount of criticism besides being patriotic. Many believe that they are radical in nature and have a strong extremist rationality. Based on the New York Times/CBS survey, one in four Tea Partiers believes that violence against the government can be justified. (Fisher) The Tea Party has been receiving a lot of publicity, too, because of ruckus that they have caused. On March 20th, House Democrats prepared to approve a large piece of health-care legislation. On this day, several particular incidents occurred. Both parties’ congressional leaders denounced the series of occurrences because they were so terrible. Homosexual Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts was yelled at and harassed by a heckler calling him anti-homosexual slurs. Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a black politician from Missouri, was even spat upon. More instances arose when Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and Rep. André Carson of Indiana we ridiculed and insulted by being called racial slurs. (Alexander)
The violence and hatred has been portrayed to get so out of hand that people are somewhat afraid to join the party or call themselves Tea Partiers. Annabel Park was one of them. She created a page for the social networking site, Facebook, for a new political party called the Coffee Party that has the exact views as the Tea Party Movement except that they restrict members from acting violently and instead, asks them to pledge “to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest and respectful toward people with whom I disagree.” Park has gotten a lot of harassment from her party of over two hundred thousand members. Conservative-based groups have tried to convince people that Park worked for the Obama administration and that her site is funded by evil organizations. She denies these claims.
Similarly, many of the Tea Party Members claim that all or nearly all of the claims of the March 20th legislation signing incidences were fabricated to spread a rumor or trick people into believing that the Tea Party Movement is racist or evil. For instance, District reader Clarice Feldman stated that there was no proof or any evidence that these have occurred. There are other mainstream media outlets that are supporting this claim. Fortunately, there is evidence to support all of these claims. An ABC film crew precisely records a protester shouting, “Barney, you homosexual, or a pile a sticks,.” Another video shows Cleaver walking to sign the legislation and quickly jolting and then turning to a man standing adjacent to him. He then pointed and walked onward, wiping off his face. As for the claims of racial slurs, a reporter for the Hill newspaper was talking with a congressional staffer inside a House walkway into the Capitol when Carson, obviously shaken and scared, came in and tried to tell her to follow him back out. He said that he had been called racial slurs and he wanted to document it, but unfortunately, the U.S. Capitol Police prevented him from leaving the building for his safety. From inside, the people inside could hear the protesters shouting up to 15 times a racial slur. (Alexander)
It is unclear whether or not the Tea Party is going on its way to becoming disbanded or on its way to greater things, but there is one thing that everyone can agree on and that is that the Tea Party is here and it is unlike many of the failed political parties of the past. In the future, we may even see senators or even a president that is running under the Tea Party. It all comes down to fate to ultimately decide the fate of the Tea Party Movement.
Sources
Mawr, Bryn. "Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.07.15". Bryn Mawr. April 20th, 2010 <http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-07-15.html>.
Meckler, Mark. "Tea Party Patriots - Official Home of The American Tea Party Movement". Tea Party Patriots. April 20th, 2010 <http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/>.
Zernike, Kate & Thee-Brenan, Megan. "Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated – NYTimes.com". New York Times. April 21th, 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html>.
"Boston Tea Party Historical Society". Boston Tea Party Historical Society. April 18th, 2010 <http://www.boston-tea-party.org/timeline.html>.
Wood, Laura. "Research and Markets: A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes - FOXBusiness.com". FOX Business . April 21st, 2010 <http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/media/research-markets-new-american-tea-party-counterrevolution-bailouts-handouts/>.
Arnold, Chris. "Tea Party Finds Inspiration In Boston History : NPR". NPR. April 12th, 2010 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125917175&ps=rs>.
Bowyer, Jerry. "Jerry Bowyer: Pennsylvania's Tea Party: Brewing for Years - WSJ.com". Wall Street Journal. April 10th, 2010 <Pennsylvania's Tea Party: Brewing for Years>.
Fisher, Max. "15 Years After Oklahoma City, Does Domestic Threat Remain? | The Atlantic Wire". The Atlantic Wire. April 10th, 2010 <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/15-Years-After-Oklahoma-City-Does-Domestic-Threat-Remain-3278/>.
Alexander, Andrew. "Andrew Alexander - Allegations of spitting and slurs at Capitol protest merit more reporting". The Washington Post. April 10th, 2010 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR20100409037
16.html>.