The Start of the Revolutionary War: Lexington & Concord April 18 th -19 th

1. The Start of the Revolutionary War: Lexington & ConcordApril 18th-19th

2. The Beginning of the Revolution • British knew the Americans were stockpiling weapons in Concord • April 18, 1775 – • 800 British troops began to march towards Concord

3. Midnight Riders Paul Revere Samuel Prescott William Dawes

7. Amos Doolittle. May 1775. “Lexington Green”

8. Amos Doolittle. May 1775.

9. Amos Doolittle. May 1775.

10. Amos Doolittle. May 1775.

11. WHO STARTED THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? • We will read Sources A and B as a class. • Answer questions in your notebooks

12. Source A • Entry for April 19th, 1775, from the diary of Lieutenant John Barker, an officer in the British army. • April 19th. At 2 o’clock we began our march by wading through a very long ford up to our middles; after going a few miles we took three of four people who were going off to give intelligence; about 5 miles on this side of a town called Lexington, which lay in our road, we heard there were some hundreds of people collected together intending to oppose us; at 5 o’clock we arrive there and saw a number of people, I believe between 200 and 300, formed in a common in the middle of the town; we still continued advancing, keeping prepared against an attack though without intending to attack them; but on our coming near them they fired one or two shots, upon which our men without any orders, rushed in upon them, fired and put them to flight. We then formed on the Common, but with some difficulty, the men were so wild they could hear no orders; we waited a considerable time there, and at length proceeded on our way to Concord.

13. Source B • Lexington, April 25, 1775. Sworn by 34 minutemen on April 25 before three Justices of the Peace • We Nathaniel Mulliken, Philip Russell, (Followed by the names of 32 other men present on Lexington Green on April 19, 1775)…All of lawful age, and inhabitants of Lexington, in the County of Middlesex…do testify and declare, that on the nineteenth of April, about one or two o’clock in the morning, being informed that…a body of regulars were marching from Boston to Concord…we were [ordered to meet] at the place of our company’s parade (Lexington Green), where we were dismissed by our Captain, John Parker,…with orders to be ready to come back at the beat of the drum. We further testify and declare that about five o’clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded towards the Green, and soon found that a large body of troops were marching towards us. Some of our company were coming to the Green, and others had reached it, at which time, the company began to disperse. While our backs were turned on the troops, we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded, not a gun was fired by any person in our company on the British soldiers to our knowledge before they fired on us, and continued firing until we had all made our escape.

14. Who shot the first bullet at Lexington? • What is your evidence? • Which source is more credible? • How did sourcing help you answer this question?

15. Comparing • 1. What are the similarities between the accounts? List all similarities. • 2. Which of the following 2 pictures is more accurate, based on what both accounts say?

16. Amos Doolittle, 1775

17. Terrence Blachaux, 1859

18. Read Source C & its questions • Read Source D & its questions • Then pause

19. Textbook #1 – Source C • From The United States: Story of a Free People, a high school textbook by Samuel Steinberg. Allyn and Bacon, publishers, 1963. • In April 1775, General Gage, the military governor of Massachusetts, sent out a body of troops to take possession of military stores at Concord, a short distance from Boston. At Lexington, a handful of “embattled farmers,” who had been tipped off by Paul Revere, barred the way. The “rebels” were ordered to disperse. They stood their ground. The English fired a volley of shots that killed eight patriots. It was not long before the swift-riding Paul Revere spread the news of this new atrocity to the neighboring colonies. The patriots of all of New England, although still a handful, were now ready to fight the English. • Questions: • 1. How is one supposed to feel after reading this passage? Refer to specific words that prove your opinion. • 2. How could the viewpoint of the author/source help explain the feelings you felt while reading this passage?

20. Textbook Account #2 – Source D • From Presenting the Past, Book 3: Reform and Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. • The situation was tense. In April 1774 General Gage, Governor of Massachusetts, sent troops to take control of a depot of arms and ammunition at Concord. This was to prevent the colonists from taking weapons. A man called Paul Revere galloped round the countryside warning that British troops were on the march. Some local farmers formed up with their muskets on the village green at Lexington to meet the British troops on the morning of April 19. Firing started and fighting lasted throughout the day as the British ‘redcoat’ soldiers pushed on to Concord. • Questions: • 3. Do you get the same feeling after reading this passage? Why or why not? • 4. How could the viewpoint of the author/source help explain the feelings you felt while reading this passage?

21. Lexington • Final Summary Question: 1. Your final analysis – what happened in Lexington? Describe what happened, use evidence from the documents to support your answer, and show why you have dismissed one of the sources.

22. Vote with your feet. Who fired the first shot?

23. The Resolution • On the 50th anniversary of Lexington, Americans admitted that they fired in the skirmish

24. The Resolution • Most historians conclude that Americans shot first because: • British accounts of the Battle of Concord admit the British fired first • Americans had the most reason to lie in their accounts • The British story is more plausible, given that the Americans were not trained