American Revolution ignited by Boston's waterfront mobs [video 56min]

In Cradle of Violence Russell Bourne argues that Boston's waterfront gangs were responsible for starting the tradition of anti-British resistance that eventually led to the American Revolution. The author details the Stamp Act riots of 1765 and the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and explains that the gangs' violent protests included tarring and feathering customs officials, burning a Lt. Governor's mansion, and fighting British soldiers in the streets. Bourne has worked at Life magazine and as an editor at the Smithsonian and American Heritage Books. He is the author of Americans on the Move: A History of Waterways, Railways and Highways; Red King's Rebellion: Racial Politics in New England 1675-1679; Rivers of America: Birthplaces of Culture, Commerce and Community; and Gods of War, Gods of Peace: How the Meeting of Native and Colonial Religions Shaped Early America. Bourne discusses his book at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Massachusetts.