On June 4, 1766, the New York Sons of Liberty gathered in a field, later known as the Commons, to celebrate the birthday of the King and the repeal of the Stamp Act. They erected a large mast with twelve tar barrels at its top and twenty-five cords of wood at its base.[1] The crowd […]
Crispus Attucks (c.1723-1770) is often remembered as the first casualty of the American Revolution. In fact, others had died in previous incidents, but Attucks’s death during the King Street riot of March 5, 1770—later referred to as the Boston Massacre—earned him a place in the national narrative of America. In that skirmish between soldiers and […]
Do you think there was a greater strategy behind most of the pre-war violence, or was it primarily raw emotion and vengeance? There was a greater strategy but, unfortunately, that strategy routinely used raw emotion and vengeance against its opponents. As early as the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty learned to target […]
