Evolution of the Revolution

“Massachusetts, [Samuel Adams] insisted, needed to step forward to serve as an example for the other colonies in order to win their backing for a boycott of British goods” (116).

The Book

The Boston Tea Party. The First Continental Congress. The Battle of Lexington and Concord. The American Revolution would not have happened if it weren’t for these three events. But what happened before and in between them? How did the colonists come to respond as they did? These are questions Mary Beth Norton addresses in 1774: The Long Year of Revolution.

American colonists loved tea. They loved it so much that it was a lucrative item for smugglers, who avoided the East India Company (EIC) monopoly and crown taxes. The Tea Act of 1773 was meant to bring down the price of tea and save EIC from bankruptcy. Responses throughout the colonies varied, but the majority of colonists saw this as another example of taxation without representation. Several months after news of the act arrived in America, a ship with a cargo of tea sailed into the Boston harbor. There was a 20-day deadline to pay the tax or have the cargo confiscated. A two-day meeting resulted in a unanimous vote to prevent its landing and send it back to England. The ship’s captain resisted and one night before the deadline, the Boston Tea Party occurred.

From that moment on, Norton traces the reactions of the other colonies and the progression towards declaring independence; and Boston looms large as the catalyst. In May 1774, Parliament retaliated by closing the ports of Boston and New York City. Shocked, Boston asked the other colonies to join them in a boycott of trade with Great Britain. Deliberation occurred in town meetings, personal correspondence, broadsides, and editorial letters. None of the colonies supported the boycott, but they did all agree to a continental congress. Meanwhile, Boston was an occupied city with British troops, a closed port, and an altered governing charter.

The First Continental Congress—which met from September 5-October 26, 1774—agreed to a staggered response: October 1774, they would stop buying tea and in March 1775, they would stop consuming tea. During the winter of 1774-1775, letters from prominent and regular colonists reflected a crisis about to come to a head and the term “loyalist” first appeared. Calls for a Second Continental Congress reflected a shift from peacefully resolving the issues to talk of independence. In spring 1775, British soldiers in Boston increased their harassment of colonists and news arrived that Parliament declared the American colonies in rebellion.

1774: The Long Year of Revolution opens up a new window into the American Revolution. Its focus on providing context and insight from everyday colonists enhanced my understanding of what happened in 1774. Much of the deliberation occurred in print and Norton liberally quotes from letters, newspapers, and pseudonym letters to the editor. She provides a fuller picture by incorporating well-known figures as well as those lost to history. These figures are from all sides: royal governors, Sons of Liberty, printers, moderate colonists, loyalists, and patriots. They also include women who wrote letters to their husbands serving in the First Continental Congress. The letters include political commentary, highly unusual for that time. The chapters are long, but they are split into sections. Each chapter begins with an introductory story that sets the stage for the rest of the chapter. A handful of black and white images are sprinkled throughout, mostly depicting political illustrations of the time.

The Place

The Boston Freedom Trail is a real-life depiction of how Boston was a catalyst for the American Revolution. It is made up of a red-brick path that winds throughout Boston, connecting 16 historic sites. The Trail begins at the Boston Common, the oldest public park in America, and ends at the Bunker Hill Monument. During my visit, two sites stood out to me: the Granary Burying Ground and the Old South Meeting House. Our tour guide spent a lot of time in the Granary Burying Ground, explaining the roles of key people in the American Revolution. Sitting inside the Old South Meeting House, I could imagine being a colonist attending a town meeting and listening to the debates about how to respond to taxation from Parliament.

You can either follow the Trail on your own or take a guided tour. I had the opportunity to take the guided tour—with a guide dressed as a colonial town crier—and to walk the path on my own. Both options provide you with a great way to experience early American history. The guided tour doesn’t stop at all 16 sites, but spends time at the majority of them. If this is your first time in Boston, I would recommend the guided tour. The town crier stays in character for the entire tour and regales you with stories, both new and well-known. Tickets are required and offered several times throughout the day. Tours last 90 minutes and require quite a bit of walking. However, if you prefer going at your own pace and going inside the different sites, walking the path on your own would be better.