In some ways, the American Revolution was the most bitter event in our nation’s history. While the Civil War split the nation in two, it was a conflict between two regions of the country, the slave holding south and the northern free states. In contrast, our Revolution was a more personal civil war, fought locally, often with neighbors fighting neighbors.

One of the most iconic moments in American history, the Boston Tea Party was emblematic of the colonies’ resistance to British oppression. Taxes imposed by the Townshend Acts and the Tea Act would lead the Sons of Liberty to toss 92,000 pounds of tea, valued at almost $2 million today, into the Boston Harbor.