Pre-Revolutionary War Betting Odds
If you were a gambling American in late 1774, you would have appreciated reading these betting odds, published in the October 24, 1774 issue of the Newport Mercury (Rhode Island). “Five to one that if the sword is drawn, General Gage mistakes a windmill for a magazine of arms, and is more intent on gaining ...
Colonial Newspapers: Unsung Heroes of the American Revolution
Colonial newspapers are unsung heroes of the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War. Specifically, several newspapermen and women deserve recognition for their role in America’s founding, including: Benjamin Edes and John Gill, Boston Gazette Isaiah Thomas, Massachusetts Spy William Goddard, Pennsylvania Chronicle Peter Timothy, South Carolina Gazette Thomas Green, Connecticut Courant John Holt, New York ...
A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston
At a town meeting on March 12, 1770 — one week after the Boston Massacre — James Bowdoin, Joseph Warren and Samuel Pemberton were appointed to a committee to prepare the Patriot account of the massacre. According to John Doggett Jr.’s 1849 enhanced edition of the Patriot account, during that March 12 meeting a “report ...
The Effect of the Royal Proclamation of 1763
On October 7, 1763, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which legally restricted any westward expansion of American colonies beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The goal was to prevent the cost of any further conflict with the native Americans since the French and Indian War had just ended (browse Rag Linen’s French and ...
B. Franklin’s Confession to Leaking Hutchinson’s Letters
If a finger had to be pointed at one person for causing the American Revolutionary War, a strong case can be made for pointing it at Thomas Hutchinson. According to the Origins of the American Revolution by Andrew Stephen Walmsley (1999): Rarely in American history has a political figure been so pilloried and despised by ...
Paul Revere’s “View of the Year 1765″
Paul Revere’s engraving of Boston’s “Bloody Massacre” is one of his most well known works. As of this posting, more than 60 percent of the Google image results for “Paul Revere engraving” return his engraved depiction of the Boston Massacre. A lesser known engraving by Revere is his patriotic response to the Stamp Act, titled ...
The Charters of Freedom: No Photos Allowed
Thanks to the tip from @bostonhistory, we learned today that photographs and video will be banned in the Rotunda of the National Archives, home to the original Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The ban goes into effect February 24, 2010. For an excellent history on the conservation and preservation of the ...
An Unlikely Spy Embedded as a Newspaper Printer
The Culper Spy Ring was a professional network of 20 spies managed by Benjamin Tallmadge of the 2nd Connecticut Light Dragoons under orders of General George Washington. The Culper Ring’s mission, according to Wikipedia: Infiltrate British-controlled New York City and report troop dispositions and intentions, and conduct covert operations throughout the American Revolutionary War. As ...
