With the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 2023, along with other historical milestones coming up in the near future, we’ve compiled a list of programming to celebrate this iconic event.
Indulge in a fascinating exploration of history and science as we highlight the Boston Tea Party and other iconic events and people that led to the American Revolution.
Specials from Arizona PBS
‘Benjamin Franklin,’ a film by Ken Burns
Ken Burns’ two-part, four-hour documentary “Benjamin Franklin” explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential and compelling personalities, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.
stream on passport
SECRETS OF THE DEAD
Ben Franklin’s Bones
When skeletal remains of at least 10 people turned up in the basement of Benjamin Franklin’s British residence, people wondered if the Founding Father might have had a darker side. Franklin was aware of the bodies in his basement, but they weren’t the victims of violent acts. Rather, they were used for the purposes of an illegal anatomy school that helped shape modern medicine.
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Turning the Boston Harbor into actual tea
Delve into the iconic Boston Tea Party while we pose a unique question: What if, instead of dumping tea into the harbor, it was brewed and turned into a colossal cup of tea? Join the experts as they unravel the chemistry behind this intriguing hypothetical, offering a delightful blend of historical anecdotes and scientific insights.
ICONIC AMERICA
The Gadsden Flag
After The Boston Tea Party, the British decide to blockade Boston Harbor, marking the first signs of real hostilities between the colonies and England. So in 1775, when the Continental Congress decided to form a navy to protect trade, a flag with a coiled snake, prepared to strike, served as the symbol to fly aboard its ships.
A unique retelling of the stories of the American Revolution
We know about George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. But most Americans have never heard about Georgia mother Nancy Hart. During the American Revolution, Hart captured five British soldiers after getting them drunk off her homemade corn whiskey. And she’s not alone.
Student journalists at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU who are part of the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab are working on an interactive project telling the stories of ordinary people who stepped up during the Revolution.
Led by Retha Hill, Director of the Lab and also Professor of Practice at the Cronkite School, students discovered most of the names of these ordinary patriots are unknown except by their descendants and genealogists, who gladly shared these incredible stories with the students.
Like Elizabeth Freeman who sued for her freedom from a violent mistress; she not only won in a Massachusetts court but forced the state to reconsider slavery altogether.
These ordinary people were heroes of the American Revolution, now brought to life by the students. With the help of immersive technology and skillful journalism storytellers, ancestors in the third tier of interactivity will be represented as full 3D avatars that are capable of real time conversation.
Watch for information here as the project develops.
In the meantime, watch a video about the making of this unique student project.
Stand on the dock and take part in the Boston Tea Party
On Dec. 16, 1773, American colonists, disgruntled with the tax on products from England including tea, boarded a merchant vessel in the Boston Harbor and dumped crates of tea overboard. King George III was not happy, and ordered his troops in Massachusetts to seal off the city.
The Boston Tea Party is considered the opening volley that eventually led to the American Revolution.
Take part in a re-creation by students from the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, part of their immersive look at the Revolution and the regular people who fought for freedom.
Stand on the dock in Boston Harbor in this interactive 3D rendering.
For more on the commemoration of the Boston Tea Party’s anniversary, visit December16.org.
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Resources for parents and educators
THE CIVIC DISCOURSE PROJECT
1776 and Us: Finding the Founding in a Foundering Democracy
Jane Kamensky, Professor of History at Harvard University, argues her point on the study and history of the American Revolution, and how we can prepare students of today with an understanding of the revolutionary era that is evidence-based.
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