The Stamp Act

The Stamp Act was a law passed by Parliament in March of 1765 taxing all paper used to print materials in the colonies. The act required that all printed materials be printed on paper embossed with an official revenue stamp. These materials included magazines, newsletters, legal documents and newspapers.

Newspaper announcement of the Stamp act

The tax was intended to raise money for troops stationed along the Canadian border after the British victory in the French and Indian War. The government decided to keep troops in the area after the war to prevent having an idle standing army at home. Parliament felt that since colonists would benefit the most from the protective presence of the soldiers, they should pay for the cost.... Click here to read more: http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-stamp-act/

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/

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/