March 17, 1776: British forces evacuated Boston, ending their siege of the city during the Revolutionary War. This was a huge relief for Bostonians, whose lives were overturned by the British occupation. Many of them left Boston during the siege, while others stayed. Both groups experienced lasting psychological impacts and property damage. The British exit shortly followed Continental Army General George Washington’s successful retaking of the city. However, this triumph was likely little consolation to Bostonians trying to piece their lives back together. As historian Jacqueline Barbara Carr writes, “In the shattered remains of Boston, a new town would begin to take shape. It would be a town built upon the efforts of inhabitants who had survived the siege, those who were forced out by the British occupation and who found the strength and resolve to return and begin anew, and a large number of new citizens, who would arrive from many different places seeking new opportunities. Together they would participate in the rebirth of New England’s most important and vital urban center.”
Citations: Jacqueline Barbara Carr, After the Siege: A Social History of Boston, 1775-1800, (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2005),” 24, 36, 40, 42, https://archive.org/details/Carr_AftertheSiege; William James Aylward, “The evacuation of Boston,” print of a painting (1911), https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-f55f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
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