The city of Boston played a crucial part in the history of the freedom and the coming of independence in the United States. Today, visitors can go to Boston and catch a glimpse of the historical events that took place primarily in the eighteenth century. In fact, the city of Boston, through the National Park Service, offers several tours for visitors including the tour of the Freedom Trail as well as the Black Heritage Trail tour in order to provide several unique perspectives of the freedom struggle that once took place in Boston and the United States as a whole. The Freedom Trail tour, Meeting, Mobs, and Martyrs takes visitors on a southbound tour from Faneuil Hall and covers the tension that arose between the United States and England,
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To begin, this tour introduces the idea that slaves, and African Americans as a whole, were treated as subhuman with “animal instincts”, beginning in the seventeenth century, which is when the first enslaved Africans were brought to Boston (Park Ranger). However, the state of Massachusetts became the only state to record no slaves in the 1790s. In fact, they established a community in Boston, which featured the African Meeting House, built in1806, as well as their own public school, the Abiel Smith School, which opened in 1835 and these buildings were designated for black community. Despite their own sense of community among themselves, they still did not have the freedom of the white colonists, which was proven by the voting laws presented on the Freedom Trail tour. In addition, slavery in the United States continued to flourish. In January of 1863, two years after the start of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of only the confederate states, however this was the spark that began the freeing of all slaves in America (Park Ranger). In July of 1863, Robert Gould Shaw led his troops through Fort Wagner where he and others were shot and killed. However, the survivors of the 54th Regiments gained …show more content…
Both of the tours represent freedom, however in a unique way respective to each tour. The Freedom Tail represents the struggle of the United States to break from the power of Great Britain and the Black Heritage Trail represents the attempt of African Americans to gain the rights that were earned as a result of the separation from Great Britain. Unfortunately, there are still freedom struggles today, as not all people are accepting of differences, but the Black Heritage Trail and the Freedom trail tours continue to remind us of the freedom struggles that once existed in Boston and how the United States has broken out of that freedom struggle as a whole and has become a nation where all can live
To begin, this tour introduces the idea that slaves, and African Americans as a whole, were treated as subhuman with “animal instincts”, beginning in the seventeenth century, which is when the first enslaved Africans were brought to Boston (Park Ranger). However, the state of Massachusetts became the only state to record no slaves in the 1790s. In fact, they established a community in Boston, which featured the African Meeting House, built in1806, as well as their own public school, the Abiel Smith School, which opened in 1835 and these buildings were designated for black community. Despite their own sense of community among themselves, they still did not have the freedom of the white colonists, which was proven by the voting laws presented on the Freedom Trail tour. In addition, slavery in the United States continued to flourish. In January of 1863, two years after the start of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of only the confederate states, however this was the spark that began the freeing of all slaves in America (Park Ranger). In July of 1863, Robert Gould Shaw led his troops through Fort Wagner where he and others were shot and killed. However, the survivors of the 54th Regiments gained …show more content…
Both of the tours represent freedom, however in a unique way respective to each tour. The Freedom Tail represents the struggle of the United States to break from the power of Great Britain and the Black Heritage Trail represents the attempt of African Americans to gain the rights that were earned as a result of the separation from Great Britain. Unfortunately, there are still freedom struggles today, as not all people are accepting of differences, but the Black Heritage Trail and the Freedom trail tours continue to remind us of the freedom struggles that once existed in Boston and how the United States has broken out of that freedom struggle as a whole and has become a nation where all can live