- April 15, 2009: to coincide with the annual U.S. deadline for submitting tax returns, known as Tax Day,
- July 4, 2009: to coincide with Independence Day,
- September 12, 2009: to coincide with the anniversary of the day after the September 11 attacks.
- February 8, 2010: the National Tea Party Convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Most Tea Party activities in 2010 have been focused on opposing the efforts (supported by the Obama Administration) to enact a very broad program of changes to the health care and health insurance industries, and on recruiting, nominating, and supporting candidates for upcoming state and national elections.
- For more protest dates, see List of Tea Party protests, 2009 and List of Tea Party protests, 2010.
The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, whose principal aim was to protest taxation without representation. The protests have sought to evoke images, slogans and themes from the American Revolution. The letters T-E-A have been used by some protesters to form the backronym "Taxed Enough Already".
Commentators promoted Tax Day events on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, while the Fox News Channel regularly featured televised programming leading into and promoting various protest activities. Reaction to the tea parties included counter-protests expressing support for the Obama administration, and dismissive or mocking media coverage of both the events and its promoters
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