colonial-history

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), in his office on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, holds a poster of the burning of the Gaspee that he has used when giving speeches on the Senate floor about the Gaspee affair.

You’d be forgiven for thinking you know this story.

American colonists, itching for independence, stormed a British vessel. A spark in New England helped ignite a national revolution.