Coffee’s role in American Revolution examined in new report
6 reported
A new report examines the role coffee played in the American Revolution, highlighting that colonists drank coffee long before the United States existed. The first documented mortar and pestle for grinding coffee beans was on the Mayflower in 1620, according to historian Michelle Craig McDonald. The first coffeehouse in the colonies opened in 1676 in Boston. While the Boston Tea Party of 1773 is often cited as a turning point when Americans switched from tea to coffee, historian McDonald says colonists had been drinking lots of coffee all along, and it was cheaper and more broadly available than tea. Coffeehouses served as hubs for revolutionary ideas, with the Green Dragon in Boston used for planning the Boston Tea Party and the Old London Coffeehouse in Philadelphia for strategizing against the Stamp Act. The report also notes that coffee plantations relied on enslaved labor, with half of the world's coffee grown in Saint-Domingue by 1790.
What’s reported
The first documented mortar and pestle for grinding coffee beans was on the Mayflower in 1620.
The first coffeehouse in the colonies opened in 1676 in Boston.
On Dec. 16, 1773, colonists threw over 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor.
Historian Michelle Craig McDonald says coffee was more broadly available than tea even before the Boston Tea Party.
Coffeehouses like the Green Dragon and Old London Coffeehouse were used for planning revolutionary acts.
By 1790, half of the world's coffee was grown in Saint-Domingue, where slaves were routinely mistreated.
Misconceptions
The article addresses the misconception that the Boston Tea Party was a dramatic turning point toward coffee, noting that colonists had been drinking lots of coffee all along.
Key figures
Michelle Craig McDonald, historian and author of "Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States"
John Adams, later second U.S. president, who wrote a letter in July 1774 about renouncing tea
Joyce Chaplin, professor of early American history at Harvard University
Mark Pendergrast, author of "Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World"
Sources: NPR
