The people who perpetrated the original Boston Tea Party were certainly an unruly mob -- and they knew it themselves, disguising themselves to cover, barely, evidence of their manifestly criminal activity.

And no one could have thought at the time it had been a step in the right direction. The Brits just tightened the screws on the local government, holding out for repayment on the ruined tea, making their control seen and felt. Did anyone really think dumping the tea would work? Did disapproving Tories condemn the lawless rampage? Sure, Sam Adams defended it -- said it was a necessary protest against illegitimate governance. But wouldn't the Tories just declare him a kook? A violent kook.

Today, they'd label him racist.

When I was in school, American history always seemed so boring. These days, it's captivating -- records of a log-ago past that read directly into the future.