July 2012 - The London Coffeehouse, Philadelphia
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The London Coffeehouse, Philadelphia
The coffeehouse in America played a significant role in the Revolution. One of these coffeehouses is the London Coffeehouse in Philadelphia, or rather, the second London Coffeehouse. It was opened in 1754 and was located on Second and Market, near the port.
It was opened by William Bradford, a printing scion, most probably to enhance his newspaper’s access to gossip and trading news. As with coffeehouses in the mother country, this coffeehouse was the center of much trading activity, including the slave trade, which Thomas Paine found offensive during his time boarding there.
Bradford apparently was one of the fomenters of the American Revolution. In 1773, despite Britain’s lowering of the tax on imported tea, Bradford, like many others, was not content to acquiesce to the tax. The issue was not the size of the tax as much as how it was decided upon and redistributed by the British. Bradford, like many colonists, wanted the colonists to control the taxation and its fruits, dedicating the funds to the maintenance of the colonies and under the control of the colonists. No taxation without representation!
Though many colonists were willing to live with the reduction of the tea tax, in October 1773 the anti-British Bradford encouraged some like-minded citizens to draw up some resolutions against the tea tax. Bradford was instrumental in organizing the town meeting which adopted them that same month. Two weeks later Boston adopted the same resolutions almost word for word. Shortly thereafter, In December 1773 the Bostonians had their little Tea Party, considered one of the first acts of the War, but the resolutions that led to that event had started in Philadelphia, at the London Coffeehouse.
Thanks to the website "Philadelphia Reflections".
Have a great and safe Fourth of July!