The Civil War and Abolition Movement: A Boston Walking Tour

Boston’s the city that ignited the American Revolution, led the country in the fight to abolish slavery and, ultimately, saved the Union. On this walking tour, you’ll step back in time and explore three hundred years of history.

Starting in front of Faneuil Hall, you’ll learn about Daniel Webster’s tireless 30-year effort to save the Union. From there, you’ll pass by a number of examples of rich Georgian architecture, including the Old State House, the Old Court House, the New State House, and the Old City Hall. With each building you pass, I’ll reveal a new piece of the Civil War puzzle.

Outside Tremont Temple Baptist Church, you’ll hear the story of Frederick Douglass, a freed slave who once explained to a mostly white congregation that the 4th of July wasn’t a celebration of freedom to people who’d experienced slavery. From there, you’ll wander through Granary Burial Ground, seeing John Hancock's and Paul Revere’s graves. I’ll tell you about the Baltimore Riot involving the 6th Massachusetts Regiment as you walk the very same path they followed along Boston Common. The tour wraps up in front of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, dedicated to the 120 regiments from Massachusetts that fought in the Civil War. There, you’ll hear how the state’s regiments were among the first to respond to protect the Capitol, the first to die in service, and the last to kill.

Along with shedding light on the country’s most critical moments from its early history to the founding fathers and finally the Civil War, this Boston tour will give you a chance to:

• Hear about the attempted hanging of William Lloyd Garrison at Corn Hill
• Appreciate the size of the crowd of abolitionists surrounding the Old Court House during the three fugitive slave riots
• Learn the reason Harriet Beecher Stowe marched from Ohio to Boston to publish her book Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Feel the emotions of Paul Revere’s grandsons, who enlisted in the Union Army to perfect the United States Constitution
• Relive the 54th Colored Regiment’s struggle to gain respect and cement the way for 180,000 additional recruits during the Civil War
• Learn why Joseph Hooker is known as “Fighting Joe” Hooker
• Walk the Underground Railroad and hear its beacon song
• Meet the station masters on Phillips Street that moved slaves to freedom
• Discover why Lincoln’s avenger had the “Hatter Shakes”
• Follow the end of Louisa May Alcott’s life at Louisburg Square, the most expensive real estate in Boston

With every step of the tour, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifice made to perfect the Constitution, eliminate slavery and save the Union, by a city and state that had no slaves.