A compensation claim for 340 chests of tea thrown into Boston harbor in what is known as the "Boston Tea Party" is among the highlights of a U.K. exhibition exploring the birth of the United States.
The letter from the owner of the cargo, the East India Company, to the British government gives a breakdown of the tea destroyed on December 16, 1773 by American colonists.
It demands reimbursement to the tune of £9,659 - the equivalent today of around £1.2 million ($1.6 million) - after what it calls "a lawless rabble went on board" and threw the tea into the water.
It's just one of the original documents including original maps, correspondence and first-hand accounts, to feature in the exhibition at the U.K.'s National Archives in southwest London which opens on Wednesday.
The exhibition comes as the U.S. gears up for the 250th anniversary of the nation's July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence.
