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iBoston.org is your site for Boston history and architecture. In addition, you can find
information on Boston's public places, art, historic people and events. iBoston also
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This Day in Boston History

February 19th, 1794

Massachusetts Historical Society

On this day Reverend Jeremy Belknap incorporated the Massachusetts Historic Society. MHS was the first repository of America's historic documents, and the first organization to devote its self to the preservation of American history.

Reverend Belknap is best known for writing the first history of New Hampshire. This work attracted the attention of Alexis de Tocqueville who hailed him as America's best native historian. He is also thought to be the first American to write about Christopher Columbus.

Though born and married in Boston, he would serve as a Congregational minister for eighteen years before his pastoral duties returned him to Boston to live full-time in Boston in 1787. Besides writing history, he also published spiritual poetry and music, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


 


England's Prime Minister never expected this tea tax to cause an outcry, let alone revolution. In 1767, England reduced its property taxes at home. To balance the national budget they needed to find a mechanism for the American colonies to pay for the expense of stationing officials in them. The officials would generate their own revenue by collecting taxes on all imported goods, and once paid affixing stamps on them. This Stamp Tax generated more in the way of protests and smuggling than added revenue.

Religion. Politics. Rebellion. Boston’s pedigree was forged back in England in the midst of religious dissension, where Puritans and Pilgrims sought religious reform, and Cavaliers and Roundheads vied for political power. The question isn't where did Boston get its name – but how.


Requiem for a Short Visit

Visiting Boston, but only have a short time?
Check out our
Itinerary for a Short Visit.


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