In 1774 when Parliament passed the Boston Port Act in an attempt to break the Massachusetts colonists of their resistance to crown policy, it also authorized English General and acting Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage to undertake any military measures necessary to help bring the colony under control. In late winter and early spring of 1775, Gage received a series of dispatches from London ordering him to not only arrest the leaders of Massachusetts’ opposition party but to launch a major strike against the apparently growing provincial stockpiles of weapons and munitions located throughout eastern Massachusetts.
Brands thinks we get important facts backwards in regard to the loyalists. As he points out, historical retrospect leads us to treat the decision for independence as the default for Americans in the 1770s, but in fact the opposite was true.
Feeling regal? Flourish your own camera and capture your inner Loyalist spirit as you sit in the throne chair outside of Barrow Bookstore. On April 19, 1775, Concord was committed to the Patriots' cause. But some prominent Loyalists had been here first. Come read more about them in Barrow Bookstore's outdoor display and take your photo. Royal or not, you are fabulous! Self-serve. Weather dependent.
Outside Barrow Bookstore, 79 Main Street, Concord, MA (down the alleyway behind Fritz and Gigi Clothing Store)
