The name `` Tea Party '' comes from the Boston Tea Party , a protest by colonists who objected to a British tax on tea in 1773 and demonstrated by dumping British tea taken from docked ships into the harbor . The name `` Tea Party '' is a reference to the Boston Tea Party , a protest by colonists who objected to a British tax on tea in 1773 and demonstrated by dumping British tea taken from docked ships into the harbor .