"Tea was first encountered by the Portugese in 1560 in Japan and was soon imported to Europe where it became popular in France and the Netherlands. English use of tea seems to date from about 1650. The
Boston Tea Party was an act of uprising in which Boston residents destroyed British tea in 1773. The high demand of tea in Britain caused a huge trade deficit with China. The British set up their own tea plantation in colonial India to provide their own supply. They also tried to balance the trade deficit by selling opium to the Chinese, which later led to the [opium war]
? in 1838-1842."
The sentence about the Boston Tea Party (which I wrote before the rest of the paragraph appeared) is innapprorpriate in this sort of potted history. OTOH I think it worth mentioning, just not in that paragraph, but I can't think where. --drj
Something on the early history of tea--before Europeans got involved--would be good, but I don't have the information.
Vicki Rosenzweig
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