People's History, Founding Myths, and the American Revolution

 

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Documentation of the 1774 Revolution in Worcester, Massachusetts

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Investigations of history depend on which stones we wish to overturn. The little known documents retrievable on this page reveal a dynamic revolution in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late summer and early fall of 1774 - more than half a year before British Regulars marched on Lexington and Concord. There are several reasons this revolutionary overturning of British authority has received little notice, but among them is the public’s limited exposure to source materials. Thanks to the Internet, that can now change. The documents here might serve well as teaching tools.

Worcester's Ink Page

Tories submit: Worcester’s “Ink Page”

decloration of in

Worcester’s declaration in favor of independence, twenty-one months before July 4, 1776

parkman

4,622 militiamen from 37 towns:
Ebenezer Parkman Diary

 

tory account

A Tory’s account of September 6, 1774

minutes title page

Political activism:
Minutes of the American Political Society

sulisbay

Evidence from a merchant:
Stephen Salisbury’s letters

Blacksmiths

Blacksmiths Unite!


list of women voters

Women voters in Revolutionary Massachusetts?

Committees of Correspondence Proceedings

The First American Revolution by Ray Raphael

Additional Sources

Thanks to Ashley Cataldo and Jaclyn Penny of the American Antiquarian Society, David Rushford, Worcester City Clerk, and Neil Raphael for the construction of this documents page.


 
 
 
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