Did Dutch Smugglers Provoke the Boston Tea Party?

The people of Boston dramatically rejected the Tea Act of 1773. This article imbricates Boston within the intercolonial, trans-Atlantic, and global networks that sustained its commerce. Like New Yorkers and Philadelphians, Bostonians smuggled tea and other commodities (sometimes called the "Dutch trade") and joined the colonial nonimportation agreements. Unlike their counterparts, however, some Boston merchants had also violated the agreements by continuing to import British tea. This article argues that Atlantic smugglers trading with the Netherlands and other European nations helped create the conditions for the Boston Tea Part and helped provoke it.