Mary Dyer was executed in Boston in 1660. Dyer was a Quaker spiritual leader who became a martyr. She refused to obey anti-Quaker laws, most famously the October 1658 statute that banned Quakers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony or face death. Dyer and several other Quakers chose to make a stand for religious freedom in Boston. Her defiance led to her public hanging, but the execution prompted the writers of the Rhode Island Constitution to declare that church and state would be separate, a precursor to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prevents the government from making laws inhibiting the freedom of religion.
The Boston coppersmith Paul Revere, while famous for his midnight ride, was also part of a ring of spies called the "Mechanics." According to the CIA, the Mechanics were the first intelligence network to spring up among American patriots in the restive British colonies. Revere wrote about how the group conducted surveillance on British soldiers as they patrolled the streets at night. Through their intelligence-gathering prowess, the Mechanics were able to uncover a plot to confiscate local munitions. The discovery allowed them to alert area militias, which led to the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
