The Tea Party became active in 2009. The first major wave of Tea Party activism took place on tax day: April 15th, 2009. A total of 1,022 protests, rallies, and gatherings took place in hundreds of communities across the United States.
The map below shows the number of tax day rallies in each US county in 2009:
Soon after the tax day rallies, local Tea Party chapters started to appear with the goal of sustaining the movement. The second map shows the Tea Party groups that were founded in 2009:
A total of 746 Tea Party groups were founded in 2009. These groups were essential in keeping up the Tea Party’s momentum.