<P> Governor Hutchinson refused to grant permission for Dartmouth to leave without paying the duty . Two more tea ships, Eleanor and Beaver, arrived in Boston Harbor (there was another tea ship headed for Boston, William, but it encountered a storm and put aground at Cape Cod--where the tea cargo was successfully landed--before it could reach its destination). On December 16--the last day of Dartmouth's deadline--roughly 5,000 to 7,000 people out of a population of roughly 16,000 had gathered around the Old South Meeting House . After receiving a report that Governor Hutchinson had again refused to let the ships leave, Adams announced that "This meeting can do nothing further to save the country ." According to a popular story, Adams's statement was a prearranged signal for the "tea party" to begin . However, this claim did not appear in print until nearly a century after the event, in a biography of Adams written by his great - grandson, who apparently misinterpreted the evidence . According to eyewitness accounts, people did not leave the meeting until ten or fifteen minutes after Adams's alleged "signal", and Adams in fact tried to stop people from leaving because the meeting was not yet over . </P> <P> While Samuel Adams tried to reassert control of the meeting, people poured out of the Old South Meeting House to prepare to take action . In some cases, this involved donning what may have been elaborately prepared Mohawk costumes . While disguising their individual faces was imperative, because of the illegality of their protest, dressing as Mohawk warriors was a specific and symbolic choice . It showed that the Sons of Liberty identified with America, over their official status as subjects of Great Britain . </P> <P> That evening, a group of 30 to 130 men, some dressed in the Mohawk warrior disguises, boarded the three vessels and, over the course of three hours, dumped all 342 chests of tea into the water . The precise location of the Griffin's Wharf site of the Tea Party has been subject to prolonged uncertainty; a comprehensive study places it near the foot of Hutchinson Street (today's Pearl Street). </P> <P> Whether or not Samuel Adams helped plan the Boston Tea Party is disputed, but he immediately worked to publicize and defend it . He argued that the Tea Party was not the act of a lawless mob, but was instead a principled protest and the only remaining option the people had to defend their constitutional rights . </P>

How many chests of tea were dumped in the boston harbor