T oday visitors stroll around a peaceful hilltop overlooking shade trees and row houses. A soaring granite obelisk rises where once stood an earthen fortification. A fiveacre park with stone markers is all that remains of the ground that became a raging battlefield and the site of the first fullscale battle of the American Revolution. It was in June 1775 that the pentup anger and hatred between the British and many American colonists exploded into brutal fury at the top of this hill, while the nearby town of Charlestown, Massachusetts, burned from redhot cannon balls fired by British warships into its wooden buildings. This Revolutionary War battle, which was supposed to have been fought on Bunker Hill, but which in fact took place on nearby Breed’s Hill, gained the British a narrow victory. At the same time it encouraged the colonists to continue to fight. Now often dotted by school groups eating lunch or resting after they have climbed the 294 steps to the top of the 221foot monument, the battleground continues to evoke a sense of wonder at the story of one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War.
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About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps Determining the Facts: Readings Visual Evidence: Images
Putting It All Together: Activities |
How the National Register Boston National This lesson is based on the Boston National Historical Park, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |
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