Excerpt from The Beginnings of the American Revolution, Vol. 1: Based on Contemporary Letters, Diaries and Other DocumentsN studying the beginnings of the American Revolu tion, the remark made by John Adams that there was a revolution in men's minds that preceded the years of battle, and that the result of the war but set its seal on a severance of interests already accomplished is more and more clearly pressed home. The successive incidents that bred discord between the mother country and the Colonies are singularly rich in detail and color. Time would fail to tell the story of the period between the Peace of Paris and April 19th in full. There were clashings with stamp masters, bickerings along the water front, tumults, and tea parties up and down the land. The priceless manuscript volumes in the State Archives and the zeal of the Massachusetts Historical Society in bringing to light numerous journals and letters of the day have given unusual facilities for following these years in their relationship to Boston. If the happenings elsewhere are passed by brie¿y here, they are none the less memorable.The main purpose of the narrative has been to make the Outline of events in this neighborhood live once more in all their wealth of humor and picturesqueness as they were known by the actors.The interest, however, is more than local, more than contemporary, for the elements here shown at Odds are capable Of cropping out again. Taken seriously, the story Of this book may well have a practical side, considered in relation to our newly-acquired Colonial possessions. We at home hear vaguely Of these outlying parts being settled by some Of ourselves, but the conditions into which the Colonists go are but little understood and less noted. Yet, carrying our name and traditions and pluck, we must believe that their day's work will tell as the years go by.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.