Lawyers, merchants, craftsmen and smugglers from a city of fifteen thousand people defied the most powerful empire of their time over a tax on tea. Twelve stops along the Freedom Trail: the park where British troops camped, the rebels' burying grounds, the governor's church, the meeting that ended in the harbor, the site of the Massacre, the hall paid for by a slave trader, Paul Revere's house, the two lanterns, the hill of the cannons, the ship that never lost and Bunker Hill. Approximate audio duration: 23 minutes.
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Boston: té, pólvora y la revolución que cambió el mundo
Abogados, comerciantes, artesanos y contrabandistas de una ciudad de quince mil habitantes desafiaron al imperio más poderoso de su tiempo por un impuesto al té. Doce paradas por el Freedom Trail: el parque donde acampaban las tropas británicas, los cementerios de los rebeldes, la iglesia del gobernador, la reunión que terminó en el puerto, el lugar de la Masacre, el salón pagado por un traficante de esclavos, la casa de Paul Revere, los dos faroles, la colina de los cañones, el barco que nunca perdió y Bunker Hill. Duración aproximada de audio: 23 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~23 min of audio · 5.86 km on foot (~1 h 30 min walking) · about 2 h in total
You are in the Boston Common, the oldest public park in the United States. Look at the paths, the huge trees, and above them the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House. At your feet a line of red bricks begins in the sidewalk: it is the Freedom Trail, which you will follow.
The Common was created in 1634, a few years after the English Puritans arrived. It was shared land where residents brought their cows to graze.
It was also the place of public punishments. In 1660 a Quaker woman, Mary Dyer, was hanged here for returning to the colony after being banished for her religion. The Purita…
2
The Gravestones That Lie
You are in the Granary Burying Ground. Look at the thin, dark slate gravestones, leaning, with winged skulls carved at the top. Some are more than three hundred years old.
Several of the protagonists of the revolution are buried here. Look for the grave of Samuel Adams, the great agitator. That of John Hancock, the rich merchant who signed the Declaration of Independence first and in enormous letters. That of Paul Revere, the silversmith of the famous ride.
And look for a stone remembering the five victims of the Boston Massacre of 1770. Among them was Crispus Attucks, a man of African and N…
3
The King's Church
You are in front of King's Chapel. Look at the massive grey granite building, with wooden columns painted to look like stone, and no steeple: it was never finished. Next to it is the oldest burying ground in the city.
Boston's founders were Puritans who rejected the Church of England, the king's official Church. For half a century they did not allow it to establish itself here.
In 1686 the king imposed a royal governor who brought the Anglican Church with him. As no Puritan would sell him land for a church, the governor took a piece of the town burying ground and built on top of it. It was o…
4
This Meeting Can Do Nothing More
You are in front of the Old South Meeting House. Look at the brick building with its pointed white steeple, surrounded by office buildings. In 1729, when it was built, it was the largest building in Boston.
It was a church, but also the place where the biggest public meetings were held. Politics was argued here.
The problem was tea. The colonists drank a lot of tea, and much of it they bought smuggled, without paying taxes. In 1773 the British Parliament passed a law giving the East India Company a monopoly on selling tea in the colonies. Official tea would be even cheaper, but it still carr…
5
The Tea Party
You are beside the Fort Point Channel, in front of the replicas of the Boston Tea Party ships. Look at the wooden hulls and the masts, and the tea chests on deck.
The original wharf, Griffin's Wharf, no longer exists: the harbor was filled in and today it lies beneath streets and buildings, a few blocks from here. But on that December night in 1773 the ships were moored there.
After the meeting at the Old South, about a hundred men, many disguised as Mohawk Indians with blankets and faces blackened with soot, went down to the wharf. They boarded the three ships, opened the holds and, for som…
6
The Massacre and the Lawyer
You are in front of the Old State House, Boston's oldest public building, from 1713. Look at the small brick building with its tower, surrounded by skyscrapers, and on the roof a lion and a unicorn, the symbols of the British monarchy.
Now look at the ground, at the corner, in front of the balcony: there is a circle of cobblestones. It marks the site of the Boston Massacre.
On the night of 5 March 1770 a group of residents began insulting a British soldier standing guard here. They threw snowballs, ice and stones at him. More soldiers arrived. The crowd grew. In the confusion someone shouted…
7
The Cradle of Liberty
You are in front of Faneuil Hall. Look at the brick building with its cupola, the golden grasshopper weathervane on top, and in front the statue of Samuel Adams with his arms folded. Downstairs there is a market; upstairs, a large meeting hall.
It is called the Cradle of Liberty. In that hall upstairs some of the most fiery speeches against British taxes were made. Much of the resistance was organized here.
The building bears the name of the man who paid for it and donated it to the city in 1742: Peter Faneuil, the richest merchant in Boston.
Part of that fortune came from the slave trade. …
8
What Paul Revere Never Shouted
You are in front of the Paul Revere House, in the North End. Look at the dark wooden house, with its upper floor jutting out over the sidewalk and small diamond-paned windows. It was built around 1680. It is the oldest house in downtown Boston.
Revere was a silversmith. He made silver teapots, spoons and jugs. He also engraved plates, made false teeth and was a trusted messenger for the rebels. He had sixteen children with two wives.
On the night of 18 April 1775 he rode out of Boston to warn that British troops were about to march to Lexington and Concord, to arrest the rebel leaders and se…
9
One If by Land, Two If by Sea
You are in front of the Old North Church. Look at the white steeple rising above the brick: it is the tallest in the neighborhood. The church dates from 1723, the oldest in Boston still standing.
On the night of 18 April 1775, before riding out, Paul Revere prepared a backup plan. If he were caught, the rebels across the river still had to know which way the British were coming.
The signal would be lanterns in the steeple of this church, visible from Charlestown. One lantern if the troops left by land, across the neck. Two if they crossed the river by boat.
That night the sexton, Robert New…
10
The Hill of the Cannons
You are in Copp's Hill Burying Ground, at the top of the North End. Look at the old gravestones in the grass and, to the north, across the river, Charlestown and the Bunker Hill obelisk.
During the Battle of Bunker Hill, in June 1775, the British set up cannons on this hill and bombarded Charlestown. The whole town burned.
It is said that British soldiers camped here used the gravestones for target practice. Look for that of a certain Daniel Malcom, a rebel who asked to be buried deep so the British would not find him: it has marks that tradition attributes to musket balls.
Also buried in t…
11
Old Ironsides
You are in the Charlestown Navy Yard, in front of the USS Constitution. Look at the black wooden frigate with a white stripe, her three towering masts, the gun ports along the hull.
She was launched in 1797, when the United States was a new country that needed a navy. The copper sheets protecting the bottom of the hull came from Paul Revere's workshop. Yes, the same one.
In 1812 the United States and Britain went to war again. In August of that year, off the coast, the Constitution fought a British frigate, the Guerriere. British cannonballs bounced off her hull, made of layers of very dense…
12
The Whites of Their Eyes
You are at the foot of the Bunker Hill Monument. Look at the sixty-seven-meter granite obelisk, and around it the sloping lawn where one of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought.
One detail: the Battle of Bunker Hill was not fought on Bunker Hill. On the night of 16 June 1775 the colonial militiamen mistakenly fortified the hill next door, Breed's Hill, where you are standing. The wrong name stuck forever.
The next morning the British saw the earthworks from Boston. They decided to attack head-on, climbing the hill in lines, in their red coats, under the June sun.
The militiamen had l…
How long does the "Boston: Tea, Gunpowder and the Revolution That Changed the World" audio tour take?
It has about 23 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 5.86 km walking route (~1 h 30 min on foot). Plan roughly 2 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Cows and the Redcoats" (coordinates 42.355, -71.0656). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Boston and pick "Boston: Tea, Gunpowder and the Revolution That Changed the World". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian
