Paul Revere

Paul Revere's Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1860

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--

One if by land, and two if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Inspiration

The Shot Hear Round the World

Lyrics / Paul Revere

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

It was frightening for Americans to think of war. England was a great power; the colonies were scattered and had little military experience. But, they prepared for the worst, so, New Englanders began to collect cannonballs and gunpowder in Concord, a small town about twenty miles northwest of Boston. When the British heard about weapons, they decided to get them. Paul Revere, a silversmith who wanted independence, found out that the British soldiers were getting ready to attack. He sent a spy into the British camp; the spy was to send a signal. Revere instructed: "If the British go out by water, we should show two lanterns in the North Church steeple; and if by land, one, as a signal."

On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere saw one lamp, then two, in the church steeple. Now he knew. The British—called redcoats because of their red uniforms—were taking the water route across the Charles River. Paul Revere jumped on his horse and rode hard all night, warning everyone in the countryside, "The British are coming! The British are coming!" At Concord and at Lexington the American farmers were ready: They grabbed their guns. They were called minutemen because they could fight on a minute's notice. Captain John Parker was their leader. He said : "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

And it did begin right there, at Lexington. The great American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, later wrote of that moment:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.

Of course the sound wasn't actually heard. But the poet knew what he was writing. Because this fight, which was just beginning, would have a purpose and meaning that would echo and re-echo around the globe. Its message was one of freedom—and that "all men are created equal"—and that idea would resonate worldwide.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web01/segment5b.html

Causes of the American Revolution