Paul Revere Goes For A Ride
In this mini lesson, students will learn some background information about the famous rider Paul Revere.
Who was Paul Revere?
Read the following biography on Paul Revere courtesy of the Paul Revere Memorial Association. Take good notes. What were some of Paul's contributions to the Patriot cause? Why do you think Revere felt the need to join the Patriots instead of the Loyalists?
Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770. The tension is palpable in the streets of Boston, MA. A shot rings out, people are shouting "FIRE! FIRE!" The local fire brigade rushes to the customs house. There is no fire. Armed soldiers have fired into a group of citizens, killing five. People are outraged, and Captain Preston of the British Army along with his soldiers are to be put on trial for murder. In a stroke of propaganda (information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view), Revere pens "The Bloody Massacre" and engraves "The Bloody Massacre in King Street, March 5, 1775." Both spread like wildfire throughout the colonies. Why were these two pieces so influential? Why did Revere hope to achieve by creating these two pieces? Using this article from ReadWorks.org, students should try to answer those questions.
Paul Goes Riding
Several years pass. Great Britain is actively attempting to suppress the Patriots in the colonies. As punishment for the Boston Tea Party, King George III and Parliament subjects the city of Boston to the Coercive Acts (known to the colonists as the Intolerable Acts.) General Thomas Gage of the British Army is in charge of the colony of Massachusetts. General Gage wants to prevent the Patriots and Sons of Liberty from launching counter attacks, so he decides to take the Patriot's stockpile of weapons from Concord, MA, west of Boston. According to the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Revere's part in this story goes something like this...
According to history, his ride went something like this...
The Ride according to Revere...
Conclusion
There were many men and women who contributed to the Patriot cause during the American Revolutionary War. While Paul Revere may have been one man, his legacy profoundly influenced the war and the foundations of the American Experiment.