The Burning of the Peggy Stewart
Francis Blackwell Mayer (1827-1899)
Oil on canvas, 1896
72 x 53"
on Artistic Property
MSA SC 1545-1111
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 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. Artist Frank B. Mayer
depicts the 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.
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