Rhode Island’s Independence Day
As J. L. Bell points out at Boston 1775, today is Independence Day in Rhode Island. On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first colony to break allegiance to Great Britain when its legislature repealed the law titled “An Act for the more effectual securing to his Majesty the allegiance of his subjects in ...
Reporting the Revolutionary War: An Unprecedented Look at Newspaper Coverage from America’s War of Independence
Amazon pre-sales Barnes & Noble pre-sales Facebook Fan Page (progress updates and behind-the-scenes) As curator and publisher of RagLinen.com, I’m thrilled to announce here the news of my forthcoming book, Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News (Sourcebooks, November 2012). In 400 full-color pages, the book tells the story of the ...
18th Century Lessons for Today’s Debt Ceiling Crisis
Same old, same old? I couldn’t help but identify similarities and connect some dots between this 18th century essay, published in the 1766 January 23 edition of THE PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL, at the height of Stamp Act resistance and the beginning of the American Revolution, to today’s debt ceiling/default crisis. Perhaps this 18th century newspaper article ...
BREAKING 1776 NEWS: First British Report of America’s Declaration of Independence
After extensive archive and internet research, including a few email exchanges with the British Library, it is my conclusion that the first official British newspaper report of the actual July 4th Declaration was published in the August 10 to 13, 1776, London Chronicle. While the full printing of the Declaration appeared four days later in ...
The Origin of “Live Free or Die” and “Die or be Free”
J.L. Bell wrote today about “The Origin of ‘Live Free or Die’” on his Boston 1775 blog. He points to correspondence between a Vermont committee and General John Stark in 1810 as the source of New Hampshire’s motto. This past weekend, a similar slogan jumped out at me as I was reading the 1774 September ...
The Death and Reinterment of Dr. Joseph Warren
As research for his forthcoming book 1775, Derek W. Beck uncovered photos of Dr. Joseph Warren’s skull, which support the idea that Warren was shot facing his enemy, at close range, during the Battle of Bunker Hill. As Beck summarizes: “Dr. Joseph Warren was shot in the face, looking at his assailant, and given the ...
Massachusetts Provincial Congress Adjourns on the Eve of Revolutionary War
This is a quick follow up to my previous post that featured the 1775 April 17 issue of the Boston Evening-Post. That issue, published by Thomas and John Fleet two days before the Battle of Lexington and Concord, turned out to be its second to last issue under the Fleet brothers. From the same issue, ...
The Massachusetts Spy Moves to Worcester, Loses Readers, Never Returns to Boston
Without any mention in the issue, the 1775 April 6 edition of Isaiah Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy — featuring the famous serpent “Join or Die” cartoon in the name plate — was his last from Boston. As the colophon states, it was printed at the “South-Corner of MARSHALL’s-LANE, leading from the MILL-BRIDGE into UNION STREET,” Boston. ...
40,000 to 80,000 Men in Arms On Their Way To Boston
Chapter five is one of my favorites in T.H. Breen’s American Insurgents, American Patriots. It’s titled “The Power of Rumor: The Day the British Destroyed Boston” and focuses on “a frightening rumor that triggered an equally frightening response.” Below are excerpts from the September 16 and 23, 1774, issues of the New Hampshire Gazette that ...
Paul Revere’s Other Revolutionary Rides
According to research by Michael Kalin for Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fischer, between the winters of 1773 and 1775, Paul Revere had two dozen revolutionary rides. Each ride had a unique purpose, including explaining the Tea Party, spreading news of the Intolerable Acts, warning of British attacks and meetings with Whig leaders. One ...
Benedict Arnold Commits Treason of the Blackest Dye
About three weeks after George Washington learned of Benedict Arnold’s treason, the Boston Gazette published an issue loaded with juicy details. Among the articles was an extract from Nathanael Greene’s orders, mis-dated September 16, 1780, instead of September 26. Below is the extract:
Understanding the Colonial American Tea Trade
While reading Benjamin Carp’s terrific new book, Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party & The Making of America, I yearned for a supplemental reference guide to help me visualize the stages of the colonial American tea trade before and after the Tea Act of 1773. This past weekend, I reached out to @bencarp ...
