Back on October 7, I wrote about my Revolutionary War ancestors, the ones who fought on the side of the Patriots; my 4 x great grandfather, Charles Tripp, and his father-in-law, Soloman Woodworth. While both of these men served in New York State, I recently had a chance to see historic Boston, where so many of the beginning efforts for American independence were taken.
Many of the preliminary steps towards freeing the nation have assumed mythical status. Events such as the Boston Massacre or the Boston Tea Party have grown by epic proportions although propaganda had a lot to do with shaping the memories of what happened. That was particularly true of the depiction of the Boston Massacre. Paul Revere copied a print that showed British soldiers in a line shooting at citizens of Boston which was not a true picture of what took place. Another myth in which Revere figured prominently was the Midnight Ride which also didn't take place exactly as written.
Even with having to take many of the events leading towards independence with a grain of salt, the history in the city was well presented. Knowing what was important, led governing bodies to save historic buildings like the Old State House. To make things easier for tourists, the city even has a line in the sidewalks called the Freedom Trail which you can follow from one historic site to another. This we followed to Bunker Hill and the ship, The Constitution. The line came in useful as there were many tourists. The number of people interested in this history became very apparent when trying to photograph graves in the Granary Burying Ground. We had to dodge around organized walking tours to get any good pictures.
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