Boston

Boston loves to remind you it’s the cradle of America. Locals will point out the first public school, the first subway, even the first Dunkin’ Donuts. Sports are basically religion here, and if you say anything nice about the Yankees, you’ll be on the next train out.

But the real claim to fame is revolution. In 1770, the Boston Massacre turned a street fight into propaganda that fueled independence. Three years later, angry colonists dumped tea into the harbor, not because they hated tea, but because they hated British taxes. By 1775, the fighting began just outside the city at Lexington and Concord, and the Battle of Bunker Hill soon followed. Boston went from colony to flashpoint, with British troops sailing off after Washington’s army forced them out in 1776.

The 19th century gave Boston a new role. It became a hub for abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, who pushed the fight against slavery. Irish immigrants fleeing famine in the 1840s remade the city, bringing both labor and political muscle. Later waves from Italy, Eastern Europe, and beyond added more layers. Boston also has a darker chapter in the 1970s, when court-ordered school desegregation led to violent protests over busing.

Boston never sat still on culture either. Writers like Emerson, Thoreau, and Louisa May Alcott helped define American literature. The city’s universities, led by Harvard and MIT, shaped science, politics, and tech. From Kennedy speeches to Aerosmith concerts, Boston has been a stage for bold ideas and loud voices.

When you visit, follow the Freedom Trail past Paul Revere’s house, Faneuil Hall, and the Old North Church. Climb Bunker Hill Monument if you’ve got the legs. Stop in Fenway Park, even if you don’t like baseball, just to feel the roar. Then settle into a North End bakery for cannoli, the sweetest end to a crash course in American history.