Late-Humanism and Revolutionary Eloquence: James Lovell and His 1771 Boston Massacre Oration

This article reconstructs the context of the first Boston Massacre Oration delivered by James Lovell. It argues that Lovell's rhetorical education and oratorical practice were primarily an offshoot of a classicizing renaissance tradition transmitted by the colonial colleges that faded, blurred and was repurposed in the eighteenth century.

“We Were Declared Enemies to the Country” Two Letters from Joshua Winslow, A Consignee of the East India Company

“We Were Declared Enemies to the Country” brings to light two previously unpublished letters that describe the experience of Joshua Winslow, one of the consignees of the East India Company tea, as he and his associates were confronted by a violent crown in Boston in November, 1773. The letters afford the perspective of a man recently arrived from years in Canada to the fierce opposition to landing EIC tea in Boston.