Empire of Tea

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Sathnam Sanghera tells the story of our national drink and its imperial past.

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Empire of Tea: 3. The Tea in Boston Harbour

3. The Tea in Boston Harbour

BBC Radio 4 - Empire of Tea, 3. The Tea in Boston Harbour

How imperial tea played a role in shaping Britain’s relationship with two superpowers.

Sathnam Sanghera and William Dalrymple discuss how imperial tea played a role in shaping Britain’s relationship with two superpowers.

The crates dumped in the harbour at the Boston Tea Party in 1773 contained East India Company tea. The historian William Dalrymple tells Sathnam Sanghera that taxation wasn’t the only issue motivating Boston’s revolutionaries. Fear and suspicion of the EIC and its tea were a factor as well.
And soon, tea would forever change British relations with China too.

Produced by Paul Martin for BBC Audio Wales

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Empire of Tea

3. The Tea in Boston Harbour

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