In October, 1774, Annapolis experienced its own “tea party,” reminiscent of the uprising that occurred the year before in Boston Harbor. When the brigantine Peggy Stewart arrived at the port of Annapolis on Friday, October 14, laden with a cargo of tea, its contents were subject to a highly controversial tax imposed by Britain on goods imported to America. When the owner of the Peggy Stewart, Anthony Stewart, paid the “tea tax,” he violated the non-importation resolution implemented by the colonists in protest.

By Wednesday, October 19, a crowd had gathered in Annapolis threatening Stewart's life if he did not destroy the ship and its cargo. Unwilling to accept Stewart's offer to destroy just the tea, the crowd demanded that the vessel be burned. Fearing the mob might attack his home where his wife lay ill, Stewart gave in to their demands.

Over 100 years after the event, in 1896, artist Frank B. Mayer depicted the dramatic scene when Stewart, escorted aboard the Peggy Stewart by members of the crowd, was forced to set alight his own ship and its cargo of tea.

Primary Sources Documenting the Burning of the Peggy Stewart