Resistance

“There was the Destruction of the Tee they supposed there to be about 340 Chests destroyed All thrown into the Dock in one Nite etc.”

– Samuel Pierce, December 15, 1773 

Resistance took many forms in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Colonists, from farmers and artisans to dockworkers and ministers, made their voices heard amid the brewing conflict with England.

New Englanders resisted taxation laws passed by British Parliament by boycotting imported goods like tea and silk, holding public protests, and forming a Provincial Congress to oppose the Crown-appointed government.

Some colonists documented their thoughts in diaries and sermons while the deeds of others are associated with objects they left behind or made for their commemoration.

This gallery highlights such belongings, preserved by later generations as memorials to large and small acts of rebellion during the American Revolution.