A Quick Overview of the History of Boston by Spero Dimas

Boston is a wonderful, quaint, yet cosmopolitan city that acts as the central hub for New England. It is well known for its medical industry, finance, and tech start-ups as well as for its amazing seafood. Furthermore, it is an international city attracting students from across the global with one of the highest college densities in the world. After all this, the most influential reason people visit Boston is because of its vast history in European settlement of the Northern America. 

Boston was founded September 7, 1630, only 10 years after the Pilgrim’s famous venture at Plymouth rock. Located on a natural harbor, it was a perfect place to set up for what would become a booming pre-capitalist colonial economy  - a gateway for raw goods to be sent back to Europe to be manufactured into finished goods. Its subsequent betrayal and rebellion for the English Crown gave way to the American Revolution and would forever etch Boston as the birthplace of the United States of America. 

Historically minded tourists and locals alike can visit an assortment of attractions that demonstrate the historical importance and resolve of the city. The Bunker Hill Monument is a 221-foot obelisk that sits atop Breed’s Hill; commemorating the new nation’s loss to the British as they inflicted more injuries than the battle was worth. The Battle for Bunker Hill was a pyrrhic victory for the British and resulted in them losing the strategically important city early on in the conflict as their troops were battered and demoralized from the strength displayed by the untrained rabble.

Faneuil Hall may be known today for delicious food on-the-go and street performers juggling on unicycles, but in the decades predating the Revolution and the era after it was a fervent body of revolutionaries. James Otis and many patriots gave speeches here on equality with their English overlords and later on outright splitting from their Union. A stronghold of patriotic presence gave it the nickname the Cradle of Liberty.

Boston has always been and will be a naval hub for New England and as such it has always needed a naval presence. The U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy in existence. Completed and launched in 1797, it is one of the first of 6 frigates authorized in the Naval Act of 1794. Made of the toughest of timbers, cannonballs bounced off of its hull, giving it the endearing name Old Ironsides in the War of 1812.

 

 Whether its a ship, an obelisk, or a marketplace, there is something for everyone to see in Boston. 

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