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The New Press

The Spirit of 74

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Title
Title: The Spirit of 74
Author: Ray Raphael
ISBN: 9781620971260
Publisher: The New Press
Published: 2015
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Number of Pages: 288
Condition Note: New from the publisher
Publisher Description: How ordinary people went from resistance to revolution: "[A] concise, lively narrative . . . the authors expertly build tension." --Publishers Weekly

Americans know about the Boston Tea Party and "the shot heard 'round the world," but sixteen months divided these two iconic events, a period that has nearly been lost to history. The Spirit of '74 fills in this gap in our nation's founding narrative, showing how in these mislaid months, step by step, real people made a revolution.

After the Tea Party, Parliament not only shut down a port but also revoked the sacred Massachusetts charter. Completely disenfranchised, citizens rose up as a body and cast off British rule everywhere except in Boston, where British forces were stationed. A "Spirit of '74" initiated the American Revolution, much as the better-known "Spirit of '76" sparked independence. Redcoats marched on Lexington and Concord to take back a lost province, but they encountered Massachusetts militiamen who had trained for months to protect the revolution they had already made.

The Spirit of '74 places our founding moment in a rich new historical context, both changing and deepening its meaning for all Americans.