This past weekend, I visited some of the sites that are linked with the beginning of the American Revolution. If you have a chance, go back and check out some of the free programs they offer through the park. Maybe you could convince your parents to bring you on your summer vacation instead of the beach.
As we will discuss in class, British troops under the control of General Gage were sent to Concord to destroy munitions that the colonist had stored there. John Hancock and Samuel Adams were in the countryside and may have also been a target of the British that night. Their capture would have been met with a trial in England for treason. At any rate, the troops were deployed across the Charles River around 10 in the evening. In the preceding few years, under direction of the Patriot leadership, colonists around Boston had begun to organize Militia and formed a Committee of Correspondence to keep an eye on British troops. Word had gotten out about the British leaving Boston that fateful April night passed from Dr. Joseph Warren to Paul Revere(it is believed that Gage's wife had leaked the info to the rebels). As was planned, Revere had asked Robert Newman, the caretaker of the Old North Church to hang two lanterns in the window alerting colonist that the British were coming by sea. Revere and William Dawes set out to alert the countryside. Newman was almost arrested for his actions that night, but escaped through a window in the church.Along the way they met up with Dr. Prescott who agreed to help spread the alarm. After Revere's capture, Prescott carried the alarm to Lincoln and Concord, sealing the fate for both towns the next morning.
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