Worcester's contribution to the Revolution is one of the least recognized and most consequential in Massachusetts. In September 1774 — six months before Lexington — Worcester County militiamen forced the closure of the royal courts, physically preventing crown-appointed judges from sitting. This was not protest. This was the overthrow of British judicial authority in the heart of the colony, and it happened without a shot being fired.
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HISTORICAL VOICE
The Printer Who Saved the Record
Isaiah Thomas dismantled his press in the dark. It was April 1775, and Boston was a trap — British soldiers controlled the streets, patriot leaders had fled or been arrested, and a printer who publish...
MODERN VOICE
The Revolution in Ink
Researchers come to the American Antiquarian Society from all over the world to read the Revolution in its original form — not as textbooks retell it, but as people experienced it through print. We h...