No Taxation Without Representation! (A Boston Tea Party Song)

A song about the Boston Tea Party that happened on December 16, 1773, when colonists protested the Tea Act by throwing 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor.

Song: No Taxation Without Representation!
Lyrics, Music, Voices: Ai
Verse: Aaron J. Weaver

[verse1]
Upon the high seas, a gilded ship did ride,
British East India Company, trade and power allied.
Not as a friend, but as a merchant-king,
Whose selfish deeds the colonists would sting.

King George, in debt, saw India's spice and tea.
"The Company," he thought, "will save me!"
He gave them rights, a monopoly so grand,
To flood the markets of colony land.

[chorus]
Forcing rule from a distant throne,
A people's will was left unknown.
They would not pay a king's decree,
Without a voice for liberty.

So started the birth of a new nation,
No taxation without representation!

[verse2]
Through smugglers' trade, the Dutch had gained a hold.
But with the Tea Act, the plan became quite bold.
For East India, a duty-free decree,
Meant cheaper tea, though taxed for all to see.

The Colonists, with fury and with fear,
Saw "taxation without representation" draw near.
A price they'd pay, but with no voice to be heard,
An act of tyranny, by Parliament conferred.

[chorus]
Forcing rule from a distant throne,
A people's will was left unknown.
They would not pay a king's decree,
Without a voice for liberty.

So started the birth of a new nation,
No taxation without representation!

[verse3]
In Boston, on a frigid winter's night,
Disguised as Mohawks, they rose to flight.
Telling the ships' captain with respect,
And dumped the cargo and swept the deck.

The harbor turned a watery brown with tea,
A patriot's new brew for liberty.
The Company's loss became a symbolic light,
Of daring men who stood against the might.

[chorus]
Forcing rule from a distant throne,
A people's will was left unknown.
They would not pay a king's decree,
Without a voice for liberty.

So started the birth of a new nation,
No taxation without representation!

[verse4]
Parliament, in vengeful, angry haste,
Sent punishments, a bitter, cruel taste.
Intolerable Acts, they closed the port,
Demanding payment for the tea's report.

The other colonies, in shared dismay,
Rallied together, come what may.
The Company's tea, and England's stubborn greed,
Had planted deep the revolution's seed.

[chorus]
Forcing rule from a distant throne,
A people's will was left unknown.
They would not pay a king's decree,
Without a voice for liberty.

So started the birth of a new nation,
No taxation without representation!

So started the birth of a new nation,
No taxation without representation!