American Revolution in Massachusetts
Terrains of Independence
In the Leventhal Map and Education Center’s exhibition Terrains of Independence, maps will offer the entry point to a reconsideration of the Revolutionary War through the lens of locality and place.
On display from April 2025 through March 2026 at the Leventhal Center gallery, located at the Central Library in Copley Square. Admission is free.
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Terrains of IndependenceExhibition website
Books
Below are links to BPL booklists containing books and other resources held by the BPL related to various topics covered in this guide.
Other Resources
American Revolutionary Geographies Online
- Digitized maps held by the Leventhal Map Center at the BPL
- American Revolutionary War Manuscripts
- Digitized documents held by the BPL on the Internet Archive
- Miscellaneous items produced during the Revolutionary Era
- via Digital Commonwealth
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17th & 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) - the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media. 1 million newspaper pages; newspapers, newsbooks, Acts of Parliament, addresses, broadsides, pamphlets, proclamations; titles from London, the British Isles, and colonies.
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18th Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
* Over 180,000 titles (200,000 volumes)
* Includes books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more
* Based on the English Short Title Catalogue
* Works published in the UK during the 18th century plus thousands from elsewhere
* Primarily in English - also includes other languages -
Chronicling America This link opens in a new window
Chronicling America is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.
Coverage: 1836-1922 -
Gale In Context: U.S. History This link opens in a new windowDue to the loss of federal IMLS funding, Gale In Context: U.S. History will no longer be available to Massachusetts residents starting July 1, 2025.
Provides integrated access to historical (primary) documents, reference articles, full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. Also includes citations for over 180 additional history journals from the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Citation Index.
Material held by the Special Collections Department is accessible by appointment only. More information is available on their website.
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Abigail Adams CorrespondenceOf the 22 letters in this collection, 20 are addressed to John Thaxter in which Abigail Adams writes about the war-time economy, the changing attitudes of American women, and the importance of public service. Other subjects include her management of the family farm, her husband’s absence, and her impressions of people such as General Burgoyne and events such as the siege of Newport.
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John Adams PapersThis is an artificial collection that was created with letters from the Mellen Chamberlain, Americana, and English Civilization collections and contains 61 letters written by John Adams before he was President, primarily to Dr. Benjamin Rush. In addition, there are three letters written to Adams and 15 others either written about him or in which he is mentioned. In addition, there are 82 items that were removed from the inside of Adams's books (approximately 35 of those are notes written in Adams's hand) that make up the remainder of the collection.
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Boston Overseers of the Poor indentures and related materialThe Boston Overseers of the Poor indentures and related material consists of about 1,800 indentures, certificates of endorsement, and other related materials spanning the years 1734-1805. Includes correspondence verifying apprentices’ terms of service in the Continental Army.