Season 5, Episode 1: The Spark: How Boston Ignited the American Revolution

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Images 2-4 courtesy of Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

Season 5 of The Object of History is dedicated to topics related to the American Revolution. On this first episode, we ask several historians for their thoughts on why Boston helped light the spark of the American Revolution. Was there something unique about Boston's community or geography that made it prone to a rebellious spirit? We sit down with J. L. Bell, Historian of the Revolutionary Era in Massachusetts, Garrett Dash Nelson, President & Head Curator at the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, and Kathryn Lasdow, Assistant Professor of History and Director of Public History at Suffolk University, to answer this question.

Episode transcript

Episode Special Guests:

J. L. Bell is the author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War and proprietor of the Boston 1775 blog. An MHS Fellow, he helped to design the society’s online exhibit “Thomas Nast: A Life in Cartoons."

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Katy Lasdow is Assistant Professor of History and Director of Public History at Suffolk University. She recently served as a curatorial fellow for the Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library where she co-curated Terrains of Independence

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Garrett Dash Nelson is a historical geographer who currently serves as President & Head Curator at the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library. 

This episode uses materials from:

Cloudbank by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)
Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)
Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)

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