BOSTON, MASS. - KTBS and Collette are taking travelers on a journey through history as part of America 250 — visiting the places where the United States was born.
The trip begins in Boston, where growing frustration with King George III and Parliament reached a boiling point.
When a tax was placed on tea — something nearly every colonist used daily — resistance turned into action, setting the stage for a revolution.
In December 1773, colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
The protest, later known as the Boston Tea Party, was more than an objection to taxes — it became a catalyst for the American Revolution.
A group of patriots called the Sons of Liberty organized the act, igniting outrage in Britain. In response, King George sent troops to Massachusetts, escalating tensions even further.
On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode through the countryside to warn colonial militia that British soldiers were advancing. He was not alone — William Dawes and Samuel Prescott also carried the message that the king's troops were on the move.
By the morning of April 19, militia members gathered at Buckman Tavern in Lexington. It was there the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired. No side claimed responsibility for that first shot, but the brief battle left eight colonial militia members dead and several others wounded.
Later that day in nearby Concord, a larger fight unfolded at the Old North Bridge. More than 400 colonial militiamen clashed with British forces and drove them back, marking a pivotal early victory for the colonial cause. The confrontation is often associated with the phrase "the shot heard 'round the world," symbolizing the global significance of the fight for independence.
Historic sites across Boston, Lexington and Concord preserve the legacy of those early days. Cemeteries hold the graves of both British soldiers and American patriots, including figures such as Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, whose midnight ride became immortalized in poetry.
The Boston Tea Party and the battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War — a conflict that would ultimately lead to America's independence.