When I was working in Boston, I would be giving tours and have to explain the history of a pretty important holiday to Boston in the early American Revolution. Suffolk County, the county in which Boston sits, has a holiday that is not celebrated in the rest of the state – let alone the rest of the country. It’s called Evacuation Day. The fact that this holiday – recognized as a day off for city offices – falls on Saint Patrick’s Day, has always seemed a bit suspicious to outsiders due to the large Irish population in the city. Yeah, yeah – call it Evacuation Day – we know what you’re really up to.1
So the fact that in 1776, the British troops really did leave Boston on March 17 always seems to surprise people. Boston is also not the only city to have an Evacuation Day. New York City celebrates Evacuation Day on November 25 – though I should note that New York’s might have a little more significance as the troops evacuated New York in 1783 at the end of the War for American Independence. (For all that significance, Boston makes a much bigger deal out of its March holiday than New York does. But November in New York is really all about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.) Boston had been under British military control for two years, starting in March of 1774, in large part because of the dumping of the tea in the harbor. The evacuation of the British troops, and the continued maintenance of patriot control of Boston for the remainder of the war, is a huge victory as far as the people of Massachusetts are concerned – though these days it is certainly put aside for wearing green instead.
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