The Stamp Act Crisis, 1765

In a two-hour walking tour of downtown Boston we see how the late medieval street pattern suited the violent protests to the Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament in 1765. From Boston Common we walk to the town's new South End, where the "Loyal Nine" met in secret and became the Sons of Liberty. Turning toward the town center, we encounter the seats of government in the Province House and the Old State House and pass down King Street to Long Wharf, where the mob rushed to demolish Andrew Oliver's new stamp office and wrought havoc to his elegant house and garden by Oliver's Dock. Along the waterside we proceed to the North End to the site of Lieutenant Thomas Hutchinson's magnificent mansion that was ravaged by an angry mob in August 1765. Returning to the town center at the Haymarket and Dock Square, we conclude at Faneuil Hall, Boston's great meeting place.