Freedom Trail

The **Freedom Trail** is a walking trail through Boston, Massachusetts. It passes by 16 places that are important to American history.  The Trail is 2.5&nbsp;miles (4.0&nbsp;km) long.  It starts at Boston Common and ends at the USS *Constitution* in the Charlestown Navy Yard.

The Black Heritage Trail crosses the Freedom Trail between the Massachusetts State House and Park Street Church.

## Creation
In 1951 William Schofield, a journalist in Boston, suggested building a walking trail to connect many of the important historic places in Boston.  Boston's mayor, John Hynes, agreed.  The Trail was marked with red bricks and red paint, and signs were added along the way to explain the importance of the Trail's 16 stops.  By 1953, 40,000 people were walking the Freedom Trail every year.

The City of Boston's Freedom Trail Commission is in charge of the Trail.  The costs of keeping up the Trail are supported by grants from non-profit organizations and foundations; philanthropy; donations; and Boston National Historical Park.

## Stops on the Trail
### The Boston Common
Boston Common is America's oldest public park.  Its land was originally owned by William Blackstone, the first European person to settle in Boston. When the Puritans came to Boston, they bought the land from Blackstone and turned it into a "Common Area" where people could bring their cows to eat grass.

In 1775, when the British Army occupied Boston just before the American Revolution started, over 1,000 British soldiers camped and trained on the Common.

#### On the way
On the way from the Common to the State House, the Trail passes a monument to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  This was the first all-black volunteer regiment in the American Civil War.

### Park Street Church
Built in 1809, Park Street Church was once the tallest building in Boston.  The Church became an important supporter of the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement.  On Independence Day in 1829, William Lloyd Garrison made his first major anti-slavery speech there.
* Three signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat Paine
* Paul Revere
* James Otis
* The victims of the Boston Massacre
* Benjamin Franklin's parents

Many other Bostonians are also buried here.

### King's Chapel
King's Chapel was the first Anglican church in Boston.  It was built in 1688, on land that was part of a burying ground (cemetery).  At that time, most people in Boston were Puritans.  King James II, who wanted the colonists to follow the Church of England, ordered that an Anglican parish should be built in Boston.  Five signers of the Declaration of Independence went to school at Boston Latin:
* Benjamin Franklin (though he dropped out of school before graduating)
* Samuel Adams
* John Hancock
* Robert Treat Paine
* William Hooper

The original Boston Latin School was torn down in 1745, but a statue of Benjamin Franklin marks the spot where the original school was.  Boston Latin School still exists today in a different place (and now teaches both boys and girls).

### Old Corner Bookstore
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The Old Corner Bookstore is the oldest business building in Boston.  It was built in 1718 as an  shop.

Before it became a business, Anne Hutchinson lived in this building.  She used to hold religious meetings in her home, where she would read scripture.  Sometimes as many as 80 people would come to the meetings. This was more than 10% of Boston's population at the time.  Eventually Hutchinson was accused of heresy for preaching without being a preacher.  (At that time, no women were allowed to be preachers, and Hutchinson's ideas also disagreed with the Puritans'.)  Hutchinson was excommunicated and exiled to Rhode Island in 1638.

In the 1800s, the Old Corner Bookstore was one of the United States' most important book publishing companies.  It published books written by many famous authors, who would also meet at the Bookstore.  These authors included:
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* Harriet Beecher Stowe
* Nathaniel Hawthorne
* Ralph Waldo Emerson
* Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
* Louisa May Alcott
* Charles Dickens

### Old South Meeting House
The Old South Meeting House was built in 1729 so that Puritans could meet there to pray.  Benjamin Franklin was baptized here.  The church's famous members included:  They were trying to decide what to do with the tea that was waiting on ships in Boston Harbor.  After the British passed the Tea Act, Bostonians would have to pay taxes on the tea even though they had no say in whether the taxes were fair or not.  They tried to have the tea sent back to England, but they were unable to.  After this, Samuel Adams got up and said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country."  This was a secret signal to tell the Sons of Liberty to go destroy the tea.  This is how the Boston Tea Party started.  Another million Irish people immigrated to the United States, mostly to Boston.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston for the first time from the balcony of the Old State House.

### Site of the Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened just in front of the Old State House, in 1770.  After British soldiers occupied Boston, many people in Boston got angrier and angrier.  On March 5, 1770, an angry mob of Bostonians surrounded British soldiers.  Somebody yelled "fire," and the British soldiers started shooting their guns.  Five Bostonians were killed.  The Sons of Liberty met there and announced that they would fight back against the British.  Leaders like Samuel Adams gave speeches there encouraging independence.

America's first town meeting was held at Faneuil Hall.  Americans first met there in 1764 to protest the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.  Later, they would meet there to protest the Tea Act, the Townshend Duties, and the British occupation of Boston.  It was built around 1680.  Revere bought it in 1770.  He lived here when he made his famous "Midnight Ride".

Because the steeple was the tallest in Boston at the time, it played an important role just before the American Revolution started.  Just before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the Revolution, the British had two choices for how they could get to Lexington and Concord.  They could walk, or they could row across the Charles River.  The Sons of Liberty hung two lanterns in the church's steeple to signal that British soldiers were crossing the Charles River.  This helped the Americans figure out the best way to defend against the British.

### Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Copp's Hill Burying Ground was the largest cemetery in colonial Boston.  It was created in 1659.  Famous people who are buried here include:
* Cotton Mather and Increase Mather, two Puritan preachers who were involved with the Salem Witch Trials
* Robert Newman, the man who hung the lanterns in the Old North Church on the night of Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride"
* Edmund Hartt, who built the USS *Constitution*
* Prince Hall, a free African-American man who started the first Black Masonic Lodge, and tried to end slavery in Massachusetts

British soldiers put their cannons at Copp's Hill Burying Ground during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

### The Bunker Hill Monument
The Bunker Hill Monument honors the Battle of Bunker Hill.  This was the first major battle of the American Revolution.  Though the British won this battle, it was so difficult for them to win that the battle proved the Americans would not be easy to beat.

### The USS *Constitution*
Until May 2015, the USS *Constitution* was the oldest warship in the world that still floated.  It was first put into the water in 1797.  The *Constitution* became famous during the War of 1812.  The ship got the nickname "Old Ironsides" because cannonballs would bounce off the wooden sides of the ship like they were made of iron.

The *Constitution* is still a United States Navy warship.
Image:Boston-view-1841-Havell.jpeg|Boston in 1841 with the State House at the top of the hill
Image:St GaudensShaw Mem.jpg|Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry
Image:Park Street Church Boston 19thc.jpg|Park Street Church in the 1800s
Image:1stKingsChapel Boston.jpg|King's Chapel as it looked in 1688
File:CornerBookstore Boston Bacon1903.png|Drawing of the Old Corner Bookstore in the 1800s
File:Boston Massacre high-res.jpg|Paul Revere's famous engraving of the Boston Massacre (with color added)
File:Faneuilhall104.JPG|Drawing of Faneuil Hall, dated 1776
File:Faneuilgrasshopper.JPG|The famous grasshopper weather vane on top of Faneuil Hall
File:Paul Revere House side view.jpg|The Paul Revere House, from the side
Image:Detroit Photographic Company (0371) - Bunker Hill Monument.jpg|Postcard of the Bunker Hill Monument from around 1900
File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - USS Constitution sails into Boston Harbor.jpg|The USS *Constitution*, still floating, sails into Boston Harbor in the 21st century

## Related pages
* American Revolutionary War

## References
## Other websites
* The Freedom Trail Foundation (The Freedom Trail's official website)
* The Black Heritage Trail