In November 1872, fire swept through Boston's commercial district, destroying hundreds of buildings and reshaping downtown.
Boston's abolitionists turned newspapers, lecture halls, churches, and streets into arenas in the national struggle over slavery.
Boston's merchants and sailors connected New England to an Atlantic economy that brought wealth, risk, exploitation, and global influence.
In March 1776, American forces fortified Dorchester Heights and made the British position in Boston untenable.
George Washington arrived outside Boston in 1775 to turn a collection of provincial forces into an army capable of confronting Britain.
The Battle of Bunker Hill proved that colonial forces could stand against British regulars, even in defeat.
On April 18, 1775, lanterns, riders, church towers, boats, and alarm networks carried the news that British troops were moving.
Months before Lexington and Concord, a British move to secure gunpowder triggered a massive militia mobilization across Massachusetts.
Britain answered the Tea Party by closing Boston's port and tightening control over Massachusetts—measures that helped unite the colonies.
On December 16, 1773, protesters destroyed East India Company tea in Boston Harbor and transformed a tax dispute into an imperial showdown.
