Introduction
Maps tie together Revolutionary history and geography. They illuminate connections between the local and the global. They draw us into stories about the diverse ways people understood their own lives and the world around them.
The American Revolution’s early episodes in Massachusetts took place in a very different landscape than the one we live in today. Boston’s distinctive geography shaped the discontent which flared up into radicalism and revolt. It created opportunities for actions and events that neither the colonists nor the British authorities could fully anticipate. After all, the people who took part in the Revolution, and whose lives were willingly or unwillingly shaped by the war, did not yet know that the United States of America lay in the future.
This exhibition unfolds across a series of scales: Empire, Region, City, Landmark, and Nation. These scales offer ways of thinking about size and location that help us understand how places connect, from the expansiveness of empire to the small details of buildings and landmarks. Each of these scales draws attention to different sets of spatial patterns and historical forces.
As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, we invite you to explore how the places of Boston and Massachusetts shaped this era—not merely as the backdrops, but as the Terrains of Independence.