Benjamin Alsop breathed in the thick, wet, South Carolinian air. It was so heavy he could almost reach out and grab it. His body was covered in sweat, and it made the scratchy wool of his uniform rub angrily against his skin. Everything was sticky. Each step forward on the march was more difficult than …
In 1767, the king of England, George III, found himself with a situation on his hands. His colonies in North America — all thirteen of them — were terribly inefficient at lining his pockets. Trade had been severely deregulated for many years, taxes were not collected with consistency, and local colonial governments had been left …
Imagine that you live in 18th century Boston. You work there as a butcher, but you don’t have your own shop. To get to work, you need to walk a half-mile across town. Up until 1765, this isn’t a big deal. In fact, you even enjoy it, as it gives you the chance to see …
“The Proclamation of 1763.” It sounds so official. So formal. In fact, it’s so important that we only have to refer to it as the Proclamation of 1763 to know what we’re talking about. That’s pretty impressive. But what was this “Royal Proclamation of 1763?” Why was it so important? What was the Proclamation of …
It’s April 18, 1775, in Boston, Massachusetts. The eve of the American Revolution, although you don’t know it yet. It’s been five years since you arrived with your family to the North American colonies, and while life has been tough, especially during the first years when you worked as an indentured servant to pay for …
Among the tensions that eventually led to the American Revolution was the Leisler’s Rebellion. Leisler’s Rebellion (1689–1691) was a political revolution in New York that began with a sudden collapse of the royal government and ended with the trial and execution of Jacob Leisler, a leading New York merchant and militia officer, and his English …