It was the Year, 1774

"While other historical works on the revolution tend to skip over the year 1774," says Mary Beth Norton, "noboday has ever paused to look seriously at the events of the year 1774, to see how the American population, which previously has been quite united in opposition to Britain, divides over various issues."

Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, is profiled in this story on the Cornell Research website, about her book titled "1774: Year of Revolution," which will take a broader look at the time period she pinpointed as being the crucial year in which Americans became divided in political belief and strategy.The book looks at what Norton calls “the long 1774,” which starts in late 1773, when Americans learned that tea was coming under the auspices of the Tea Act, and continues until the day before the fighting started at Lexington and Concord in 1775.

To continue reading, visit the Cornell Research website.