The Old South Meeting House, a forum for public debate and revolution, is one of the more interesting historical landmarks in America. It is most famous for being the site of the intellectual beginnings of the American Revolution.
At this site in the year 1773, around 5000 men gathered to protest the tea tax that Britain had just levied on the colony. After compromise failed, the order to dump the tea into the harbour was given by patriot Samuel Adams, sparking off the Revolution.
The Old South Meeting House, like any historic building, has gone through a multitude of phases. It began as a Puritan meeting house, holding religious services and fostering lively public debate among the congregation and the community. During the Revolution, the British punished the Colonists by ripping up the interior and using it as a riding school. After the war it became a church again, and in 1877 it was saved from encroaching development by a group of historical preservationists, making history by becoming "the first public building saved because of its association with nationally important historic events."
Today the Meeting House keeps the tradition alive by showcasing public speech and generally being a forum for community discussion. It has artefacts, interactive exhibits and life-like figures representing its history as a centre of religious, political and social debate.