We think of the American revolutionary moment as taking place in 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Or perhaps it was the spring and summer of 1775, when the first shots were fired and militias from across New England gathered on Cambridge Common and formed what, under George Washington, became the Continental Army.

But American revolutionary ideals and practices long predate that time, by nearly a century. Resistance, defiance, collective action, a refusal to pay tax without being represented, a marked sense of independence from Britain - all these were present in the Puritan-Whig Revolution (also known as the Glorious Revolution) of 1689. In this presentation, award-winning historian Adrian Chastain Weimer reveals the revolutionary roots of 17th century New England.

In 1686 the English crown dissolved local government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and put a royal favorite, Edmund Andros, in charge of a consolidated Dominion of New England. Reluctant to express disloyalty to the king, Bostonians endured ever-increasing taxes and insults from the new unelected regime.

But behind closed doors, colonists engaged in electrifying debates about whether good subjects - and good Christians - should patiently submit...or whether rulers who violated natural law and the people's welfare forfeited their right to rule.

Ultimately, in the Puritan-Whig Revolution of 1689, people from Boston and nearby towns organized a widespread uprising, imprisoning Andros and resuming control of local institutions. North of Boston, Ipswich men led by the Rev. John Wise wrote petitions refusing to pay tax if they were not represented - and were imprisoned for their pains.

In these three years of defiance and revolt, New Englanders developed ideas and practices of resistance that would carry over to the American Revolution.

Adrian Chastain Weimer is a professor of history at Providence College and is currently a long-term fellow at the John Carter Brown Library. She is the author, most recently, of A Constitutional Culture: New England and the Struggle against Arbitrary Rule in the Restoration Empire (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), which was awarded the Winthrop Prize.

Watch her fascinating presentation for the Partnership of Historic Bostons on A Constitutional Culture, here. We also highly recommend her stunning presentation on resistance petitions, 1664-65, given for the Commonwealth Museum. Watch it here.

Please note: The opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter and not necessarily those of the Partnership of Historic Bostons.