Terrains of Independence

The American Revolution is a profoundly place-based story. In 1775, war ignited in Boston and its surrounding towns, fueled by conflicts over trade, governance, and imperial authority. But what was it about Boston and Massachusetts in particular that made the region such a tinderbox for revolutionary activity in the late eighteenth century?

Drawing on maps in the ARGO collection, the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library presents Terrains of Independence, a free public exhibition at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square. The exhibition is on display from April 2025 through March 2026, and features a companion digital exhibition in ARGO.

Featured Maps

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  A new map of North America

  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

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  A map of the most inhabited part of New England containing the provinces of Massachusets Bay and New Hampshire with the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island divided into counties and townships the w[h]ole composed from actual surveys and its situation adjusted by astronomical observations

  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

  See map
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  The seat of war in New England, by an American volunteer

  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

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  A new plan of ye great town of Boston in New England in America, with the many additionall [sic] buildings, & new streets, to the year, 1769

  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

  See map
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  A general & particular plan of the island of Castle William near Boston

  Library of Congress Collection

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  A new map of the whole continent of America, divided into North and South and West Indies

  Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

  See map