What is a Tea Party?
It is a group of people who come together, just like the original Boston Tea Party, to protest problems in government.
Primary values focus on fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.  In the Spring of 2009, the lack of understanding about these basic values by state and federal government officials pushed people to have rallies or “tea parties” throughout the United States.
Organizations were formed to host these rallies and have continued to evolve ever since.

Why were they formed?
One of the biggest reasons that most people decided to take part in a “tea party” in 2009, and certainly for those who started tea party groups from their homes - was because the Republican Party was as big of a problem as the Democratic Party.

People felt they had nowhere to turn, so they had to make their voices heard.  The tea parties were formed because concerned citizens had crossed a breaking point, and had to do something.

A very basic history of the 2009 Tea Parties
Early in 2009, a financial commentator for CNBC named Rick Santelli went on a rant about how the current national political agenda would bankrupt the nation, specifically citing the “Stimulus Bill.”  As a result he suggested a Chicago Tea Party in July for any capitalists who would be interested.

Many equally passionate people around the country took the suggestion literally and decided to form groups in their own cities to do just that. In fact, the first large tea party that received national attention was held in March in downtown Cincinnati, OH.

The Tea Party movement of 2009 had begun.

Tea Party groups have continued to spring up throughout the United States until now where there are thousands of groups across the nation.  Most groups are independent from each other, but do share some common values.

No one knows what will become of the Tea Party movement, but everyone knows the idea of citizen engagement and accountability was long overdue.