Episode 9 — The Philadelphia Tea Party (December 1773)

When the tea ship Polly arrives, ~8,000 armed Philadelphians line the wharves and a delegation persuades the captain to turn around without unloading a single chest. No tea is destroyed, no property damaged — but the message to Parliament is unmistakable. Philadelphia's restraint makes Boston's destruction look more violent by contrast and may have helped push Parliament toward the Coercive Acts.