Boston Freedom Trail Field Trip
Colonial and American Revolution History and Literary Lessons
Jul 1, 2007
Nothing makes American Revolutionary history come alive more than a stroll on Boston’s Freedom Trail. The red-bricked trail, covering 2 ½ miles of the city, makes a fantastic field trip finale to a unit study of the American Revolution.
The mostly red-brick walking trail begins at one of the oldest public parks in the United States -- The Boston Common. This beautiful 44-acre park is the site from which the British forces launched their April 1775 assault on Lexington and Concord.
From there, students will see the gold-domed Massachusetts State House which has served as the Boston Statehouse since 1798. The stunning building is located on property once owned by the first elected governor of Massachusetts and Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock.
The Park Street Church and Granary Burying Ground are the next stop on the Freedom Trail. This 1660 cemetery is the oldest in Boston proper. Look for the burial sites for famous revolutionaries such as John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere.
Not far from the Park Street Church is the King’s Chapel and Burying Ground. Mary Chilton, the first woman to depart the Mayflower; John Winthrop, the Massachusetts Colony’s first Governor (1629) and author of A Model of Christian Charity; and
Elizabeth Paine, the probable model for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character Hester Prynne are all buried here.
Next on the trail are the Benjamin Franklin statue and the First Public School site. Across from the statue of the famous American statesman is the location where, in 1635, Puritan colonists established the first American public school which where such famous students as Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin once attended.
Now the Boston Globe Store, the former Old Corner Bookstore is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Boston. Originally an apothecary, the gambrel-roofed structure was also the home of the Ticknor and Fields Company, publishers of 19th century literary greats Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson and others.
Further along is the Old South Meeting House which was built in 1729 as a Puritan place of worship. As the original location of the Boston Tea Party meetings, today it houses a museum where students can view dramatizations of taxation debates.
Following the Old South Meeting House, the Freedom Trail leads to the Old State House, former trade and government location and site of the March 5, 1770 Boston Massacre.
Next, students can shop at Faneuil Hall, the site of multiple meetings in protest of British taxation of the colonies.
Moving on, the Freedom Trail finds two notable monuments to Paul Revere – the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church where Sexton Robert Newman warned Paul Revere and other patriots of the advance of British troops. The Georgian style church also houses the first known bust of George Washington.
History and literature students alike will recognize the gravestone of Cotton Mather at the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. This 1660s site was also the location of the British cannon which first fired on American soldiers during the Revolutionary battle on Breed’s Hill.
The USS Constitution and Museum are located also located on the trail. The Constitution, which was memorialized in Longfellow’s poem Old Ironsides, is the oldest commissioned warship in the world.
The walking tour ends at the Bunker Hill Monument which memorializes the June 17, 1775 fighting at Breed’s and Bunker Hills. The 221-foot granite monument memorializes the American sacrifices at the first major skirmish of the Revolution.
As you wander the historic trail, ask students to sketch interesting locations and list questions and observations. The trip is an excellent jumping off point for further historical research and literary study.
