1860 Aerial View of Boston I came across this 1860 image when I was working on the Sam Adams project. In the lower left corner, you can pick out Old South Meeting House with the steeple and follow the path of the Tea Party patriots along Milk Street, which runs along side the Meeting House, to what was once Griffins wharf where they jumped into rowboats to get out to the three ships, anchored at sea, that were loaded with crates of tea.

On December 17, 1775 - From Fort George, New York, north of Saratoga, Henry Knox wrote to General Washington, " I have made forty two exceeding strong sleds & have provided eighty yoke of Oxen to drag them as far as Springfield where I shall get fresh Cattle to carry them to Camp. The rout will be from here to Kinderhook, from thence into Great Barrington, Massachusetts Bay & down to Springfield—There will Scarcely be any possibility of conveying them from here to Albany or

On this day in 1773, patriots in Boston, led by Sam Adams, were organizing the Boston Tea Party. An estimated crowd of 7,000 pressed into Old South Meeting House (the pews are a later addition) and jammed the surrounding streets. The heart of the issue was "no taxation without representation." The provocation was the arrival of the Dartmouth on November 28, the first of three British ships to arrive loaded with crates of tea that would be subject to tax. Custom officials had

If you want to understand the challenges and hardships involved in the early days of the American Revolution, I highly recommend the photo-essays on The Origins of American Independence, Sam Adams - Mastermind of the Revolution and Henry Knox - Washington's Favorite General. You can find them here . Thomas Jefferson said of Sam Adams, "I always considered him more than any other member, the fountain of our more important measures." #AmericanRevolution Three figures on left, R

Washington's farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan On December 4, 1783, about a week after the British troops evacuated New York, Washington arranged to say farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern on Pearl St. in lower Manhattan. The always dignified commander-in-chief was overwhelmed with emotion. He filled a glass with wine and toasted his officers saying, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish th

When the royal governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, was asked why he did not pay off or bribe Sam Adams, he replied, "Such is...

Over the next few years, America will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. There were three people who played...