#OnThisDay in National Historic Landmarks History, December 16, 1773: the BOSTON TEA PARTY is launched!!! When rumblings started to shake the colonies and the Revolution was imminent, patriots flocked to the OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE, the largest building in colonial Boston, to debate the issues of the day. They argued about the Boston Massacre, and they protested impressment of American sailors into the British Navy. And then, on the night of December 16th, they acted! Over 5,000 angry colonists gathered at Old South to protest a tax on tea. After hours of debate, Samuel Adams gave the secret signal that launched the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians, raced to Griffins Wharf and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. Years later during the Revolution, Old South was gutted by occupying British soldiers who ripped out the pews, installed a bar in the first balcony and used the space as a riding school for the British Cavalry, infuriating American patriots. In March 1783, after sustaining enormous damage, Old South was restored by the congregation as a place of worship. A century later, and after surviving the 1872 Great Fire of Boston, the Old South congregation sold the building and moved to Bostons Back Bay section. Old South narrowly escaped the wrecking ball as a result of one of the first successful historic preservation efforts. Leaders in the effort were philanthropist Mary Hemenway, abolitionist Wendell Phillips, writers Julia Ward Howe and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The movement to save Old South helped to usher in the nations historic preservation movement, which has led to the preservation of thousands of historically significant buildings nationwide. Since 1877, Old South has served as a museum and historic site, educational institution, as well as defender of free speech. In the 1920s, Old South enacted a policy to grant the use of the building to groups otherwise denied a a public platform. Old South continues to serve as a catalyst for intellectual thought and energy, by sponsoring public forums, debates, concerts and theatrical presentations year round. The Old South Meeting House is a part of Boston National Historical Park (https://facebook/BostonNHP). For information on the 241st Anniversary BOSTON TEA PARTY REENACTMENT: oldsouthmeetinghouse.org/history/boston-tea-party/boston-tea-party-annual-reenactment
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 13:10:00 +0000
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