On October 25, 1774 (exactly 250 years ago today!!), fifty-one women from the area around Edenton, North Carolina signed on to a boycott of English goods in protest of the new tax on tea. It would be an understatement to say that taxation without representation was a hotbed issue in the American colonies, and numerous protests against parliament’s unjust taxes sprung up—but the “Edenton Tea Party”, as it came to be known, was one of the only ones organized by women.
In fact, it may be the very first recorded women’s political demonstration in American history.
I’ve always been proud of North Carolina’s role in the early history of our country. When I talk about how our government should be a force for good in our communities, I think that’s a long-held North Carolina value. It’s what protests like the Edenton Tea Party were about: Parliament imposed a corporate monopoly and harsh taxes on a people who had no right of representation, and they did so not to better their lives, but to pay off a war debt and artificially prop up the struggling East India Company.
So we boycotted their tea. We became the very first colony to authorize our delegates to the Continental Congress to call for independence. And from the War of the Regulation in the 1760s to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781, we fought for freedom, for justice, and for a government that represented our people.
And now we’re doing it again now. Today is the semiquincentennial anniversary (that’s 250th anniversary to you and me) of the Edenton Tea Party and in just two years, 2026 will be the semiquincentennial anniversary of our nation’s independence. It’s a good time to honor our forefathers—and our foremothers, too.
We have better tools than armed revolution, of course. The beauty of the American system is that when our government isn’t serving our needs, we can alter it at the ballot box. Our methods get to look less like the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and more like the Edenton Tea Party: neighbors coming together and organizing for a better world.
So let’s come together. Let’s elect a better government. We’ve got just eleven days left, and any support you can give will help this campaign win so that we can finally have a Treasurer who invests in our communities, who fights for opportunity, and who believes that government can and should be a force for good in our lives.
