Rebels, Riots, and Revolution: A Colonial Boston Audio Tour with Context

Boston played a pivotal role in the events that led up to the American Revolution. On this walking tour with Jessica Dello Russo, a Context Travel expert with a PhD in archaeology, you’ll learn about the city’s history as a British colony, and find out how acts of civil disobedience and public protest helped bring about American independence.

Starting on Long Wharf, (the city’s oldest) Jessica will tell you how Boston was one of America’s largest trade centers at the time, thanks to excellent port resources, and its many skilled artisans and highly literate population.

As you make your way to the Massachusetts State House where our tour ends, you’ll hear how Bostonians were ready to fight any perceived threat to their autonomy and prosperity. You’ll meet some of the key characters in colonial-era Boston, like prominent merchant and statesman John Hancock, political philosopher Samuel Adams, silversmith Paul Revere, and inventor Benjamin Franklin.

Along the way, you’ll take in examples of pre-revolutionary architecture from the 16 and 1700s. You’ll also see Chart House, the city’s oldest waterfront building, and learn about Quincy Market, which Boston set up soon after it became a city in 1822. You’ll also visit Faneuil Hall, a somewhat controversial project when it was first built in 1742.

On this tour, you’ll:

• Come face-to-face with several American Revolution protagonists where they were finally laid to rest in Granary Burying Ground
• Understand Boston’s role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade between Africa, Europe, and the Americas
• Take in the Custom House, whose size and position reflect Boston’s major role in international commerce – and the extent of its power to collect revenue from trade
• Become familiar with Paul Revere, an immensely popular figure in the story of the American Revolution
• Admire the Boston Athenaeum, home to hundreds of thousands of works of art and other rare items, including a large part of George Washington’s library
• Trace the footsteps of Samuel Adams: patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts, and one of the most radical, outspoken opponents of English rule
• Find out the history behind Merchant’s Row, where the sale of enslaved people continued until its abolishment in 1780
• Admire​​ Boston’s earliest surviving granite building, the King’s Chapel, built for the colony’s first Anglican community
• Take in Old South Meeting House, where the plans for the Boston Tea Party were hatched

By the end of this 90-minute tour, you’ll have a greater appreciation for the key figures involved in the fight for America’s freedom and, ultimately, the formation of the United States.