Alexandria, virginia. To start off the afternoon, please welcome philip green wall. Philip is the cofounder of emerging revolutionary war and the fulltime contributor to emerging civil war. He is the author or coauthor of two volumes in the American Revolutionary war series, and three volumes in the emerging civil war series. One of his books as downstairs, as well. Phil graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in history from wheel and Jesuit University and has a graduate degree in American History from george mason university. He is currently a supervisor and park ranger with the National Park service in florida. You can ask him about the fun things he may have seen recently there. With, that let us learn a bit about why someone would want to burn down boston. laughs applause i will move the microphone up. I am a park ranger in the everglades. Dont bring any snakes. I know that was a big concern. Did you but todays top is centered on something farther north. Being a Baltimore Orioles fan, i want to see boston burn for a number of reasons. The road to revolution. Boston, the epicenter of that early colonial opposition to the parliament, to the british,. But i figured out someone up in three days. March 5th, 1770. December 16, 1773, lexington and concord, april 17th, 1775. Thank you for coming. I will take your questions. Those are all important dates, not to discredit them. They are part of a timeline that ruptured the 13 british north american colonies from great britain, and led to the creation of the United States of america. But events dont happen in a vacuum. Cataclysmic events like the three mentioned are critical to the revolutionary war, but so are the smaller bread crumbs, or shall we say, the paving stones on the road to revolution. These are the ones that lead up to the big meal, the bread crumbs that build a call to unify people. Boston in there is no more iconic photo than the liberty trail and boston. Try to get through four of these points. The background of boston, the sons of liberty colonial perspectives, british perspectives, maybe that will change your perspective for general gates, and from words to our. I boston. This is a map from the book that is downstairs. Boston, 1765, had about 15,520 inhabitants living in about 1670 houses, with a little less than 3000 white males. Thats the legal age to serve in the militia. In addition, there were 800 slaves approximately. Further, here you can see what was boston at the time of the revolution, and what is boston now. If you visit, thats where the british will land on the Early Morning of april 19th. The reason that is so far inland today as it has been pulled in. This is not land in the middle of a business district. But numbers in boston fluctuate due to the recent 1765 census is the last one we have on the city prior to what happened in 17 seventies. Before we get to that part, we need to go back in time a little bit. Obviously, this is one of the most famous and iconic images. If you put up these multiple photos, or pictures, or images, the first martyr of the revolution, march six, 1770 there. You have a great amount of literature having social media and information at your fingertips, the colonists were very good about communicating, or spreading the word. Getting information out was 18 century social media. By images and wording here, it cut off so you can see some of the names there. It matches the initials down there on the grave. Its bringing that iconic image out. The Boston Tea Party, of course, where they dump a bunch of teabags into it and they float up. Those are bricks there. 342 cases. Just like americans, they do respect property. They are only going to break open the casks that hold tea. They put them into the harbor there. Another iconic image, just like that image there of the Boston Tea Party on the right. Its a little shaded out. Lets go back even farther. We always ask the question, how did the road to revolution start . When did washington switch from being a member of the British Empire and proud of his british allegiance to being a revolutionary . When did sam adams start . It might have started as early as 1740 with the crisis in massachusetts. A lot of these people had land. They had resources. They had goods to sell, but they were not rich in hard currency. This idea populated that you could use the land as a form of currency. You can see this. You could use this to barter and trade. This was an effort of landowners and artisans to use their work products as currency. That became a very popular idea, obviously. Except for the merchants and top echelons of society who had money and access to hard coinage and currency. This populist movement was a threat to their livelihood, and stations in society. Furthermore, when 5000 supporters of the land banks marched into boston, this caused even more confrontation from members higher in society and the royal elite. As quickly as letters could race across open water, back to the british parliament, the proverbial kiss of death to land banks happened when the supporters of land banks were termed or considered traitors by british parliament. Those who had invested, lost heavily. Some lost more than they could bear. Others became homeless and impoverished. One of the latter was samuel adams, the father of the revolution, samuel adams. That made him one of the most vocal supporters of american independence. Even after his death, the younger adams had to defend the state from seizure by the government. This, in his mind, served as a constant reminder that britain s power the colonies could be exercised in arbitrary and destructive ways. Those destructive ways led to another bread crumb. He is credited with coining the phrase taxation without representation. This gentleman right there. Taxation without representation is tyranny was his saying we usually drop off those last two words. If you went across the potomac, you would hear that on license plates in the district of columbia. But the tyranny part is left. Off we will leave it right there. Born in 1725, he hails to a family that will produce other revolutionaries such as murphy otis warren and samuel otis, who would become the president of the u. S. Senate afterwards. His daughter would marriott gentleman named benjamin lincoln, a Major General in the continental army, and seconded mandate york town. Although, initially he is appointed to general, he resigns when a promised seat, chief justice, did not go to his father, but to a longtime opponent of the family, tom hudson, who would become a very staunch loyalist. He sent representative merchants arguing against the legality of britains public assistance and started a lifelong political thinker including and during the writing pamphlets. If you want to be a revolutionary, write a pamphlet. That is used to build interest. John adams, he remembered otis as in service for years, that were so important and essential to calm this country from 1760 to 1770. In february, 1761 when he gave a five hour oratory which is not as long as my top today will be, at the state house and boston, mr. Adams would remember otis as saying right then in quotes, the child independence was then theyre born. Every man of the immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away as i did, ready to promote the call of colonial independence. Unfortunately, otis did suffer from a mental illness. It happened prior to an incident at a boston coffeehouse in 1769. He was struck over the head and would continue to deteriorate. He had moments of lucidity, but Public Service and public life was over by the end of the 17 seventies. He passed away suddenly standing in the door frame of his house. He was quoted early in life saying when its time for him to return to the heavens above, he wished to go being struck by lightning. He almost immediately later on seemed like he died being struck by lightning. So its interesting. Another luminary is this gentleman, a great recent biography just came out of doctor warren. He is such an internal part. You cant talk about boston without having him somewhere in that conversation. Whether its the night of april 18th when william dahl and paul revere go out on the night. Who sends them . When john adams, sam adams are down at the continental congress, who is in boston . Mr. Warren. Who was serving as president of the committee of safety, a Major General ship . This gentleman. Who writes the suffolk resolves, submitted by the Congress Approved almost en masse, . Mr. Warren. Unfortunately, he cant stay out of any action, into the ends up battling at bunker hill, where he meets his untimely death. That deprives the nation of one of the great gentleman, not only of medical genius, but also a practical thinker who could move between different echelons of society. He was so immensely felt in his death that he said warrens death was equal to 500 man. In equivalents. A nice tribute there. For every big revolutionary, you need the guy who can walk the streets, be the rabble rouse or to get the people. William was one of. Them hes the gentleman who could get people up in arms. He was more of a radical. One of the reasons he was poisoned by the british, he would die shortly in october 1774. He was one of the sons of liberty not at the meeting house, but down on the war, probably leading or organizing the Boston Tea Party. He was very popular with the working classes and has been fomenting public resentment. This gentleman is brewing beer, samuel adams. We dont need to talk about him. Samuel adams is a gentleman who suffers and would have been such a great story to bring out a few years ago, the History Channel to the documentary sons of liberty, and he is suddenly 25 running across roofs. I am thinking you are missing the point of this gentleman and the true story behind samuel adams. If you ever watched that, just keep in mind, that samuel adams, not the 25yearold gq model in that show. The one guy i forgot to put up here. He will be discussed later on at the bottom of a small document, john hancock. A future symposium held here at the lychee im can talk more about john hancock. We can aim for next year. On the other side of the coin, we have gentlemen such as these. George, and he is down here. And of course, frederik north. As the doctor was saying, sometimes theyre grammar or writing did not at here to certain rules and regulations. You can see it is spelled a little differently there. Dartmouth doesnt quite understand whats going on. March 1774, he believes the president madness of the people in boston is not for answering events. George jermaine, or george sackful, interesting character, at the battle of indian he decided to abide orders and basically shown society. He comes back in it takes over november 1775. And of course, lord north, the Prime Minister during these hold buildup, and eventually the war, efforts that try to subdue the american colonists. They are all trying to get with this, guy thomas gates, and growing, up you read the first history books. This guy i am surprised he didnt have horns on his head how bout of a gentleman he was. But when you read more on him, as much as anyone can, he is in a situation where the situation on the ground and you are missing whats going on in the field and trying to communicate between the two and then you realize they are 3000 miles away in by the time you get a letter to them it will be six months. And then you have your wife who is an american and might be something that you are unsure and you have to go away. And then you are communicating. So yeah. It is surprising that he had a good nights sleep the entire time he was in boston. But he does have some of the support of gentleman. Isaac bars from the house of commons. General gates is a man of great ability, whose call to services in that country, which i am sure he will never do, unless at the same time you give him the sort of all of brands you give to the others. I think that sums up his efforts. Scores have tried to defy the colonies. At the same time, the colonists are hit with what we call the intolerable acts. So, now governments are moved out of boston. Now, they have to close the port of boston down. You have the quebec act. Next thing you know, theres a lot of unemployed people. Its important that we have soldiers in the town. We have removed their chance to elect leaders. And now, many of the british to get in trouble. We dont have to try them in the colonies. We can send them 3000 miles away. Obviously, everything is peachy and boston at this time. At the same time he is battling, trying to figure out what to do, he has a limited amount of man power there. He is also at the cusp of British Colonial policy. Britain has let the colonies go by themselves for years. They have not taxed them. Now, suddenly, they need to pay for things like the french and indian war, soldiers on the border, massive debt, and they need to incorporate the land they have gained. Gains is the guy in the wrong place at the right time, being promoted to replace jeffrey amherst, who left and returned to england. Gates has been there in the colonies four years at a time. His body makes i a bold and aggressive parliament after lord north Administration Takes over. Does anyone want this job . He is in a tough situation. I but, as he is doing it, he does try different methods. He is trying to meet with the public there. Thats another. Image all these images are on copyrighted. They are from the New York Public Library or library of congress. You can search Boston Tea Party, it will come up with different images. I invite you to look through if you have a few free moments, because it shows you kind of the historiography of how we remember from newspapers to painted images to the primary sources. It is interesting to see how he study one subject and why we continue to study one subject. So, in another piece, the british soldiers, i showed this image on purpose because it did not show a british flag. Thats an American Flag there. But it is shown the harbor of boston at no time did Castle William ever fire a shot in anger or violence. But its where some of the troops will be housed to try and get them out of boston and other appeasement that gains tries with the colonists. But lets talk about the road to revolution. I know there has been a lot of social topics and i know military history is so important. These are two places where the revolution might have started. These are other bread crumbs on the path to revolution. One is salem. For, once we will talk about salem without witch trials. The other one, some believe the first shot of the war happened and it happened in New Hampshire, which is a very hard word for baltimore eons to say. I was told that is from lord of rings, the way i pronounce, it and not revolutionary war history. We are going to go back to salem because its a very interesting story. Obviously, gates will take troops there in february of 1775. As he sends Lieutenant ColonelAlexander Leslie with the 64th regiment by ship to marble head with instructions to sail with 240 troops, sees the ammunitions. Remember them they will come back up. Colonel leslie was known by fellow officers as, a gentle little man who lived well and drinks good. He would be great to be at happy hour at a tavern with. They landed at helmets cove in marble head. It worsened on sunday morning, expecting it to be the suburbs, 40 men by boat marched to the coast and hopefully they are not discovered. Does that sound familiar . Once again, soldiers and boats and hope they arent seen by anybody. As soon as the ships landed, the drums were beat upon and an alarm signal that had been previously agreed upon. They are trying to not be discovered, playing music like yangtze doodle is not the way to secretly enter into salem. As they approach the bridge that wouldve been in that photo there, they could hear the church bells ringing wildly. They discovered people had already pulled a plane from the bridge. They continue to march into the Public Square with bayonet, muskets, music, drums beating. They expected to be a Victorious Army in a concord city. Soon thereafter, leslie learned from sympathizers, proceeded on the direction of the north bridge. The regulars are coming. Colonel david mason leaves his house. Thats the same thing that paul revere would say. The british are coming. He is running through the streets of alexandria today yelling the americans are coming. Thats what they believed they were still, the regulars. Mason mounted his a horse and road to the canyon. Captain timothy earring, another great title. I love the titles of 18th century books because they tell you exactly what is in the book themself. You cant judge a book by its cover. 18th century america, you can exactly judge a book by its cover. This is simply an easy plan for the militia. This is the spark notebook of the century. It would later be used as an army drill book. The first time in American Government or military history we used and made something simple. In an effort to calm the situation, mr. Thomas bernard, who in quotes, recently been a torched, tried to let the people let it down, but the blacksmith say we dont know you in this business. Lowering the bridge will be done. Now they have a situation. Leslie has to go across the bridge to look at the cannons. And munitions. The bridge is up. Now, there are people on both sides. Colonel felt who was no fear for his own life, was this time standing next to colonel leslie. He heard the orders to fire on the people. This is coming obviously from a person sympathetic to the patriot cause. He responded with fire, you had better be dead than fire. You have no right to fire without further orders. If you do fire, we will be all dead men. The order was not repeated. Indeed, had his men been enforced, salem might have been the first bloody battle of revolution fought at a different north bridge on the 26th of february. Leslie will not abandon his orders. He has to go across the bridge to look at the cannons, munitions. Thats his order from his superior. So leslie tells captain felt, i am determined to pass over this bridge before i return to boston. If i remain here until nex