Cover art by John Romita Sr.
The American Revolution was a fight for freedom and liberty that not only gave birth to the United States but helped spread the concept of democracy to other countries as well. Although the War for Independence was fought by all thirteen colonies, there was one particular city that was pivotal in the initial rebellion – Boston, Massachusetts, home of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere, as well as tea parties and shots heard round the world.
A visit to Boston is thus a journey through history itself, with many of the landmarks that gave rise to the American Revolution located on a 2.5-mile stretch known as the Freedom Trail. Beginning at Boston Common and winding its way past the site of the Boston Massacre, the burial grounds of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, the Old North Church, and Bunker Hill, the Freedom Trail is where the seeds of liberty were initially planted.
In Spidey Super Stories #17 – a special bicentennial issue published in 1976 – Captain America and Spider-Man got to walk part of that Freedom Trail, only two hundred years in the past as opposed to the present. While helping set-up a “Happy Birthday America” party, Cap tells the webslinger that his list of personal heroes includes Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, and Thomas Jefferson. Doctor Strange overhears the conversation and offers to send the pair into the past so that they can experience the Revolutionary War time period for themselves.
Captain America and Spider-Man are not the only ones who make the trip. Between the parades, fireworks, and constant barrage of television specials, Kang the Conqueror has had enough of the United States’ Bicentennial Celebration and decides to likewise time travel and prevent the revolution from ever taking place.
Kang’s first stop is Boston and the year 1773, where he barges into a local meeting hall. Seeing Samual Adams and his followers dressing as Native Americans in preparation for the Boston Tea Party, the supervillain tells them, “The party’s over! You will not raid British ships tonight.”
Fortunately, Captain America and Spider-Man arrive at the same place and time as Kang. While Spidey distracts Kang, Cap waves Samuel Adams and his men towards the door. Once the supervillain is subdued, the pair of superheroes then head to Boston Harbor and watch as the first fuse of the American Revolution is lit by the simple act of tossing crates of tea off the side of a British ship.
In 1773, the East India Company was in the midst of severe financial troubles and had a large surplus of tea that it needed to unload. Selling it to America was the logical solution, but the British Parliament insisted that the tea – which was to be sold at a drastically reduced price – should likewise be taxed.
The colonies resisted the tax even though the price of the East India Company tea was still cheaper than regular tea. Protests raged in New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston, but it was the actions of Boston colonials that fanned the flames of revolution. Three ships arrived in Boston Harbor containing the tea and, by law, they had to unload their cargo within twenty days or else custom officials would seize and unload it themselves.
Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson was petitioned to have the law waved, which would allow the ships to leave Boston Harbor with the tea still onboard. Close to 5,000 Boston residents met at the Old South Meeting Hall on December 16, 1773, to await word of Hutchinson’s decision. When it was announced that the governor had denied the request, a group of colonials – dressed as Mohawk warriors – made their way to Griffin’s Wharf, boarded the three ships and dumped the tea into the harbor.
The Old South Meeting Hall that served as the launching point for the Boston Tea Party still stands and is part of the Freedom Trail. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, meanwhile, sits on Boston Harbor near the original location of Griffin’s Wharf. Visitors to the museum can take part in a re-enactment of events, with a facsimile of the Meeting Hall – including an appearance by Samuel Adams – and two replica ships from which fake crates of tea can be tossed into the harbor.
Although he was unable to prevent the Boston Tea Party from taking place, Kang the Conqueror was still able to escape and time travel to the year 1775. Inside the Bell Tower of the Old North Church, he immediately begins smashing every lantern that he sees, exclaiming, “When I’m finished, there won’t be a lamp left in Boston!”
Doctor Strange is aware of Kang’ plans. Instead of returning Captain America and Spider-Man back to the present, he sends them to 1775 as well. Cap immediately notices the Old North Church and the pair of superheroes make their way to the Bell Tower. They are once again able to thwart Kang but not before he succeeds in destroying all the lanterns inside the church.
When the time comes to signal Paul Revere with a solitary lantern – apparently Cap and Spidey are not up on their American history, as church sexton Robert Newman actually lit two lanterns – Spider-Man uses his Spidey-Signal to send a beam of light from the Bell Tower.
“But what an odd red light,” fellow horseback rider William Dawes comments, to which Paul Revere replies, “It’s to warn us of the redcoats!”
After the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which closed the port of Boston, limited town meetings in Massachusetts, allowed trials of colonists to be moved to Great Britain, and demanded that Boston residents pay for the lodging of British troops. Meant to deter further protests, the Intolerable Acts had the opposite effect, resulting in the stockpiling of ammunition in the nearby town of Concord.
Boston was a small city at the time, and despite General Thomas Gage’s attempt to keep his plans to destroy the stash of weapons a secret, troop movements within Boston made it obvious that such a mission was underway. On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was tasked with riding to both Lexington and Concord to warn of General Gage’s plans with shouts of, “The British are coming! The British are coming!”
Revere’s subsequent journey was immortalized in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow entitled “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Although historically inaccurate in some parts, lanterns were indeed used at the Old North Church – “one if by land, two if by sea” – as the poem relates. The Old North Church is likewise part of the Freedom Trail, not far from Paul Revere’s house and a statue of Revere riding his horse on the night of April 18, 1775.
Kang the Conqueror makes one last attempt to stop the American Revolution – only in Philadelphia instead of Boston – on July 4, 1776. “I’ll melt Philadelphia with my little invention,” he says as he attaches a device to the Liberty Bell. “Then there will be no Declaration of Independence, and no Bicentennial 200 years later!”
Needless to say, Captain America and Spider-Man defeat Kang before he can hatch his plan. The pair then peak through a window at Independence Hall and watch as John Hancock affixes his signature to the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, meanwhile, can be seen chatting off to the side.
“Can you believe it?” Captain America asks Spider-Man just as Doctor Strange appears to whisk them back the present. “Our Founding Fathers!”
Two months after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill was waged in Boston, albeit on nearby Breed’s Hill. Although the British ultimately prevailed, it was a costly victory, with over half of their 2,000 soldiers either killed or wounded. The Battle of Bunker Hill – despite being incorrectly named – thus proved that Americans were both willing and able to sustain a war of independence.
The Battle of Bunker Hill also marked the end of Boston’s influential role in the American Revolution. Three days earlier, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia decreed that regional militias be rolled together into a Continental Army under the command of Virginian George Washington. The British, meanwhile, realized that the initial rebellion had escalated into a full-scale conflict. Since Boston was too geographically isolated to wage a war, the decision was made to evacuate from the city in March 1776.
The Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, midnight ride of Paul Revere, and the Battle of Bunker Hill are legendary moments that led to the War for Independence, and their significance cannot be understated. One could even argue that if it wasn’t for Boston, there might not have been an American Revolution. The Freedom Trail connects these events and the rise of liberty that resulted from them – a trail that leads through history itself.
Just ask Captain America and Spider-Man.
Anthony Letizia