Faneuil Hall Was Built with Slave Money

It's a little known fact that Faneuil Hall, which has been dubbed the “Cradle of Liberty” since the American Revolution, was financed with money from Peter Faneuil's slave trading business...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/faneuil-hall-was-built-with-slave-money/

Where Did the Shot Heard Round the World Happen?

The Shot Heard Round the World occurred on April 19, 1775 after British troops, searching for ammunition stockpiles in Lexington and Concord, engaged in a brief battle with local minutemen on the North Bridge in Concord.

Engraving of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, circa 1775

Over the years the exact location of the Shot Heard Round the World has gotten muddled. Many writers and historians have attributed it to the first shot fired at the Battle of Lexington, which occurred earlier in the day and was the first official battle of the Revolution. Yet the phrase itself “Shot Heard Round the World” comes from a Ralph Waldo Emerson poem about the Battle of Concord titled Concord Hymn...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/where-did-the-shot-heard-round-the-world-happen/

Deborah Sampson: Woman Warrior of the American Revoultion

Despite the fact that women were not allowed to join the military until the 1940s, hundreds of women still fought as soldiers in the American Revolution. These women often disguised themselves as men and used aliases to avoid detection. Like the secret female soldiers in the Civil War, they were often young, poor, unmarried women looking to serve their country and earn money for their families...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/deborah-sampson-woman-warrior-of-the-american-revoultion/

The Boston Massacre Victims

After five people were shot dead by British soldiers during the Boston Massacre in 1770, many patriot leaders used the tragedy to stir up hostility against the British government. Samuel Adams tugged at the heart strings of the public by holding a public funeral for the five victims and portraying them as martyrs of a brutal regime before burying them in Granary Burying Ground and erecting a marker “as a momento to posterity of that horrid massacre,” according to the book “Samuel Adams: The Life of an American Revolutionary.”...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-boston-massacre-victims/

Was Samuel Adams an Embezzler?

Although known as a brave patriot of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams was also a tax collector and bankrupt businessman who had been accused of embezzling public funds shortly before the revolution began.

Portrait of Samuel Adams by Copley

Adams, a wealthy nobleman and cousin of John Adams, had a flair for politics that won him the position of tax collector for the city of Boston in 1756. Although he was a bad business man who had squandered the earnings from his father's business just a few years before, Adams was appointed to the job on account of his honesty and willingness to serve the city of Boston...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/was-samuel-adams-an-embezzler/

John Adams

Portrait of John Adams by Stuart

John Adams is one of the most notable patriots of the American Revolution. A Harvard-educated lawyer, farmer and U.S. ambassador, he later became the second President of the United States after serving as George Washington's Vice President.

Born on October 30 in 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts, Adams was the son of Deacon John Adams and Susanna Boylston of Braintree. The Adams family was an old English family descending from Mayflower pilgrim John Alden. John Adams was also the cousin of Samuel Adams...Click here to read more:

http://historyofmassachusetts.org/john-adams/

Paul Revere

Portrait of Revere by Copley, circa 1768

Paul Revere was a silversmith and patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting local militia of the approaching British forces shortly before the battle of Lexington and Concord.

Born in the North End of Boston in December of 1734, Revere's father was Apollos Rivoire, a French Huguenot immigrant who later changed his name to Paul Revere to fit in with the other English immigrants in the city. Revere's mother was Deborah Hichborn, a daughter of a local artisan family....Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/paul-revere/

Battle of Bunker Hill

"The Battle of Bunker hill" by Howard Pyle, circa 1897

The Battle of Bunker Hill, which took place on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown, was one of the most significant battles during the Siege of Boston. The battle started after colonists heard British forces were planning to send troops to occupy the hills surrounding Boston. To prevent this, Colonel William Prescott and his men marched to nearby Breed's Hill, although they originally intended to go to Bunker Hill, on the night of June 16 and hastily built a large earthen fortification...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/battle-of-bunker-hill/

Timeline of the American Revolution

1754-1763:

The French and Indian War

October 1763:

The Proclamation of 1763

March 1765:

The Stamp Act

The Quartering Act of 1765

March 1766:

The Stamp Act repealed

The Declaratory Act

June 1767:

The Townshend Revenue Act

October 1768:

British troops arrive in Boston to enforce customs laws

March 1770:

The Boston Massacre

June 1772:

The Gaspee Affair... Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/timeline-of-the-american-revolution/

The Boston Massacre

Depiction of the Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre was a riot that began when a group of 50 citizens gathered outside of the State house on the night of March 5, 1770 to protest the large presence of British soldiers in the city. The soldiers had been sent to Boston to protect customs commissioners as they enforced the recent, and highly unpopular, Townshend acts, which placed an import tax on goods such as tea, glass, paper and other products from England.... Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-boston-massacre/

Participants of the Boston Tea Party

Although considered heroic and brave by many, the names of participants in the Boston Tea Party remained a secret for years in order to protect them from persecution by the British government. Destroying the tea was an act of treason punishable by death. Some of the men were also from distinguished families who did not want to be associated with such illegal activity. Theses rebellious colonists were mostly members of the Sons of Liberty, but some were random citizens who had joined the group en route to the harbor. To protect their identities, tea party participants disguised themselves as Native Americans complete with ragged clothes, makeup and mohawks and refrained from acknowledging each other during the act....Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/participants-of-the-boston-tea-party/

The Boston Tea Party

On the night of December 16 in 1773, a group of Boston citizens protested the British government's recent tea tax by dumping millions of dollars worth of British tea into Boston Harbor...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-boston-tea-party/

Henry Burbeck Military Archive Sold for $95,000

An online auction house recently sold the military archive of my ancestor Henry Burbeck (of my grandmother Beatrice Burbeck's family) for the price of $95,000. The archive spans the years 1763 to 1839 and consist of hand-drawn maps, military documents, letters, notebooks and military reports...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/henry-burbeck-military-archive-sold-for-95000/

Boston Massacre Site Gets a Makeover

The Boston Massacre marker is moving..again. The current marker, which is made up of 13 rings of cobblestones with a center stone marked with a star, has been on a traffic island in front of the state house for decades. This is not actually the original location of the marker when the city decided to commemorate the massacre in 1887, nor is it the actual site of the massacre...Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/boston-massacre-site-gets-a-makeover/