British General Thomas Gage declared that the life of Joseph Warren was equal to 500 ordinary colonials. Contemporaries claimed that had Warren survived the American Revolution, the name of Washington might have been obscure. Dr. Joseph Warren was one of the foremost leaders in the years prior to, and the earliest months of the War for Independence. It was Warren who united the First Continental Congress. It was Joseph Warren who sent Paul Revere on his famous 'midnight' ride. It was Dr. Joseph Warren who acted as Commander in Chief to the army of rag-tag Provincial soldiers until an official appointment was made. His name and heroic deeds were once known by every school child in America - statues dedicated to him, towns, counties and streets named for him. Today his memory is all but forgotten, buried beneath the dust of time. Yet, were it not for Dr. Joseph Warren's prominent role, American History as we know it would be greatly altered. Janet Uhlar was born in Quincy, Massachusetts - the hometown of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Hancock, and Josiah Quincy, Jr. Her fascination with the American Revolution began in childhood upon reading Esther Forbes' Johnny Tremain. As a former home-schooling mom, Janet introduced forgotten heroes of the American Revolution to her children's history lessons, adding more depth and insight to this most pivotal time of our nation's history. Janet firmly believes that when the private lives and unique personalities of historical figures are presented, and the dynamics between these characters brought out, history becomes much more than cold black print on a stark white page. History takes on a life of its own, with true flesh and blood individuals whose acts of courage, indifference, or cowardice shaped the world we live in today. This living history helps us relate to those who have gone before - offering inspiration, courage, and a sense of determination. Janet lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

First Martyr of Liberty explores how Crispus Attucks's death in the 1770 Boston Massacre led to his achieving mythic significance in African Americans' struggle to incorporate their experiences and heroes into the mainstream of the American historical narrative. While the other victims of the Massacre have been largely ignored, Attucks is widely celebrated as the first to die in the cause of freedom during the era of the American Revolution. He became a symbolic embodiment of black patriotism and citizenship. This book traces Attucks's career through both history and myth to understand how his public memory has been constructed through commemorations and monuments; institutions and organizations bearing his name; juvenile biographies; works of poetry, drama, and visual arts; popular and academic histories; and school textbooks. There will likely never be a definitive biography of Crispus Attucks since so little evidence exists about the man's actual life. While what can and cannot be known about Attucks is addressed here, the focus is on how he has been remembered--variously as either a hero or a villain--and why at times he has been forgotten by different groups and individuals from the eighteenth century to the present day.

First Martyr of Liberty explores how Crispus Attucks's death in the 1770 Boston Massacre led to his achieving mythic significance in the role of African Americans in the mainstream American historical narrative from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

There are trails through time blazed by almost invisible figures, including one of the greatest heroes of the American Revolution: Dr. Joseph Warren. Philip Strouse shines a spotlight on the critical role that the physician played in Boston and throughout the provinces to bring forth revival and revolution in this biography that considers Dr. Warren in the context of other history-making Josephs. Across the centuries, there were Josephs who stepped in to stabilize societies and to initiate major movements that upended the status quo. From antiquity to the relatively recent birth of the United States of America, these often-overlooked agents set the stage upon which others postured, prospered, and progressed. Through selfless acts and sheer resolve, they propelled succeeding generations into unimaginable realms. While this book highlights several Josephs throughout history, it zeroes in on Warren, who may have been the most enigmatic Joseph of all. What he did—and did not do—continues to reverberate around the globe. Join the author as he reveals how Warren chose to serve others rather than be served and explains how his life reflects an ultimate archetype from long ago.

In common with republicanism or socialism in continental Europe, Liberalism in nineteenth-century Britain was a mass movement. By focussing on the period between the 1860s and the 1880s, this book sets out to explain why and how that happened, and to examine the people who supported it, their beliefs, and the way in which the latter related to one another and to reality. Popular suport for the Liberal party was not irrational in either its objectives or its motivations: on the contrary, its dissemination was due to the fact that the programme of reforms proposed by the party leaders offered convincing solutions to some of the problems perceived as being the most urgent at the time. This is a revealing, innovative synthesis of the history of popular support for the Liberal party, which emphasises the extent to which Liberalism stood in the common heritage of European and American democracy.

A rich and illuminating biography of America’s forgotten Founding Father, the patriot physician and major general who fomented rebellion and died heroically at the battle of Bunker Hill on the brink of revolution Little has been known of one of the most important figures in early American history, Dr. Joseph Warren, an architect of the colonial rebellion, and a man who might have led the country as Washington or Jefferson did had he not been martyred at Bunker Hill in 1775. Warren was involved in almost every major insurrectionary act in the Boston area for a decade, from the Stamp Act protests to the Boston Massacre to the Boston Tea Party, and his incendiary writings included the famous Suffolk Resolves, which helped unite the colonies against Britain and inspired the Declaration of Independence. Yet after his death, his life and legend faded, leaving his contemporaries to rise to fame in his place and obscuring his essential role in bringing America to independence. Christian Di Spigna’s definitive new biography of Warren is a loving work of historical excavation, the product of two decades of research and scores of newly unearthed primary-source documents that have given us this forgotten Founding Father anew. Following Warren from his farming childhood and years at Harvard through his professional success and political radicalization to his role in sparking the rebellion, Di Spigna’s thoughtful, judicious retelling not only restores Warren to his rightful place in the pantheon of Revolutionary greats, it deepens our understanding of the nation’s dramatic beginnings.