Boston

Maybe its because I am in my sixth week on the road but I have to say that Boston really reminds me of Sydney. It has a nice harbour, Boston Common is a lot like Hyde Park, the streets are not all gridded up an there are plenty of cobblestones like in The Rocks. The other thing it really has going for it is a thriving bar culture. My head can attest to that right now.

I mentioned the Columbus Day parade. Well it turns out it is held on the Sunday prior to Columbus Day, basically the day I was in Salem, so I missed out. Boston however is a fun city. They do have that unique accent and a slightly "I don't give a damn" attitude, but what big city doesn't. I mentioned how I enjoy tormenting Americans in another post. I can honestly say the only thing I enjoy more is tormenting the British. Its something that the Americans and I agree on. Well what better place to do it but on Boston Harbour at a recreation of the famous Boston Tea Party.

They have a museum and replicas of two of the three ships from the famous event quite literally floating on Boston Harbour. As an aside I have to tell you something a little amusing. As I was walking to it I spied two giant Lego sheep floating on Boston Harbour as well. Apparently the children's museum which is nearby has a big Lego thing going on. It is one of the few times I have wished I had kids so I could have an excuse to go and play.

Anyway the tea party thing was a blast. You take part in a mock town meeting with character actors in full costume recreating the events leading up to dumping the tea into the harbour. From there you are lead out on to one of the two ships where you get a rundown on their size, crew, cargo, capabilities, etc. This is all done in costume and in the style of the period. The actors playing the parts all kept in character as they explained away a motorised vessel gliding by against the current, "its one of those witch ships from Salem", to that most American of statements, giving directions to the restrooms.

The museum itself only really has one item of significance, being one of the original chests that held the tea. The replica ships are very impressive and he staff incredibly knowledgeable. They even have "crates of tea" that you can throw overboard to complete the illusion. 

I have to say they got all of the facts they presented correct and even included some of the things that did not paint the American actions in a particularly favourable light. After the National Archives, The Smithsonian, Gettysburg and even the marker at Key West it was nice to see the entire story told. There was a British couple at the town meeting and the stellar actor gave a stirring summary of why this should be close to the heart of the everyday Brit as well. This was all done in character. 

From there I walked some of the "Freedom Trail" (yes that's really what they call it). It starts on Boston Common and takes in among other things Paul Revere's House, The Old North Church where the lanterns were hung to alert the minutemen that the British were coming and more importantly how they would come, Faneuil Hall the public meeting house where town meetings were held, the site of the earlier Boston Massacre and finishes with the Bunker Hill Monument which was the site of the first major battle of the American War of Independence. 

There is a poem known by almost every American titled "Paul Revere's Ride", written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow where much of the myth and legend about the start of the war has been taken. For many years its content was taught to school children as fact. Sadly Longfellow got quite a few things incorrect. In the poem the lanterns in the church are for Revere's benefit. They were not. He already knew their purpose (one lantern meant the British were coming by land and two meant they were coming across the river). Revere was actually the one who instructed they be lit. He never made it to Concord except in the poem. He didn't row himself across the river people rowed him across and in the most glaring omission Longfellow left out two other riders on the night William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. 

It is true that Revere was by far the most successful, but his chances of success were slim at best, hence the backup. Revere was remarkably well connected and a member of many organisations and known to a lot of influential people. His job was to wake up the heads of the various minutemen militias (known by that name because they could be ready to fight in a minute) and to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming, as the British wanted to arrest them and Revere knew they were in Lexington. Then he had to carry on the Concord where he was to warn the locals there as well. He was arrested before he got there. Dawes and Prescott who were now with him at his arrest managed to escape, with only Prescott making it to Concord and warning the town. 

Revere however was in British custody. He spun a story that there would be more than 100,000 militia men descending on Concord so the British had better watch out. He wasn't believed as the number was so exaggerated. However the British did hear fighting and fearing they may be trapped behind enemy lines let Revere go. At this point he went back to Lexington to again try and convince Adams and Hancock to leave. Hancock fancied himself a warrior (he wasn't) and was reluctant to go earlier because he didn't wish to appear cowardly. To make matters worse even though it was early in the morning they decided they would have dinner before they set off.

He had them in a carriage when Hancock remembered he had left incriminating documents in a chest in the house they had just left. Revere walked back to the house while the carriage continued on, secured the documents, skirted the British and rejoined the duo after burying the document laden chest. 

When the war was over and after the American victory he had his first substantial vacation. Where did he go? England of course. Here he witnessed first hand the operation of a copper foundry. He brought the technology back to America and became a successful businessman, dying aged 82 a millionaire.