We’re all familiar with 1776. But before the actual separation from England, there was revolution across the land. The spirit of 1774 was focused on class-blind democracy and a lot of what happened then, with powerful actions from the grassroots up, relates very much to today. Ray and Marie Raphael are activists turned prolific historians, their new book is The Spirit of 1774; How the American Revolution Began. If you don’t know this period, you don’t know what the revolution was and the possibilities it still portends.