It's time that we as Americans stood up for ourselves and for those who came before us.  It's time that we as Americans remember our founders for who they were and not what our history books tell us they were.  It's time that we as Americans started teaching our children about the reality of the founding of our nation. History books will tell our children about Paul Revere's ride through  the Massachusetts countryside. They will tell our children about him yelling “THE BRITISH ARE COMING, THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” They will tell our children that people dressed like Indians and threw English Tea overboard in Boston Harbor, that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4^th (it was actually signed on July 2^nd), and that George Washington was our first president. These are wonderful things for our children to know, even if some of them are partly incorrect. It’s the stories that the history curriculums “just don’t have time to tell” that we as Americans need to be telling our children. It’s the story of HOW and WHY the British came to Boston Harbor, and on to Concord and Lexington that REALLY shows the brilliance, courage and sacrifice of Paul Revere, Dr. Warren, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, etc. 

The colonial uprising had already begun. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress had been established and at the head of it was John Hancock who resided in Concord, Ma. At 9PM on the night of April 18^th 1775 Dr. Joseph Warren was, as many colonials were, lying in bed drifting off to sleep. Dr. Warren was a well known, well liked man who was active in colonial politics. In fact, his drafting of the Suffolk Resolves caused the King of England to put a price on his head. He knew that at any moment the Redcoats may knock at his door. It was late, and well passed the time when the British had cleared the streets.  As he lay drifting to sleep, there came a knock at his door.   He knew this could be it. The British Redcoats had come to take him; he would never put it past the British to come at night, when all were asleep. Instead of redcoats, there stood a young man that Dr. Warren new well. Dr. Warren quickly ushered the young man inside his home. “What are you doing here? It’s well past curfew and you know if the British catch you..” he said softly.   The young man stopped him before he could finish, speaking in hurried but hushed tones, “Dr. Warren, the scene unfolding at the harbor warrants any such dangers. The Redcoats are massing, they’re dressed in full battle dress with muskets and assembling.” Warren considered this. It was not unexpected, in fact, he and others had planned for such an occurrence. He knew that the British had learned of the cache of weapons and ammunition the colonials had stored in Lexington and Concord. Warren knew that the British would march on those towns and that the revolution would be stopped before it could begin. He knew he had to act now.  He said to the young man, “I want you to go and get two men for me, Paul Revere and William Dawes, do you know them?” The young man replied that he did and he hurried off. 15 minutes later Dawes and Revere knocked softly at Dr. Warren’s door. Dr. Warren hurried them inside and explained his plan. Revere was to go into town and cross the Charlestown River. On the other side he would meet up with John Larkin who had a horse named Beauty. She was touted as the fastest horse in Boston. Dawes was to ride south out of Boston, taking the longer land route to Lexington and Concord. It was safer and fewer Redcoats patrolled south out of town and fewer still through the farmlands south and west of Boston. In the event that Revere and Dawes were captured, Dr. Warren had arranged for lanterns to be hung in the Old North Church, viewable from across the Charles River. One lantern would be lit if the British marched by land, and two if they were to cross the river by boat.  Both men departed with strict instructions to carry their messages directly to Lexington and Concord. They were not to go home, not to tell anyone what they were doing. Paul Revere gathered two men to help him cross the river. As they ducked in and out of bushes, avoiding the many British patrols, they noticed on this warm night that the moon was full. Another light was shining that night; in fact, many of them were shining from the deck of a huge Man-O-War docked on the river. Revere and his companions saw that they had no choice but to cross the river here, and that they would cross directly beneath the bow of the huge British ship. “We’ll never make it!” hushed one of the young men. “We MUST make it.” uttered Revere. As they climbed into the boat they made a pact that if they were seen, they would tip the boat over and swim as fast as they could for the opposite shore. They knew they would be caught or worse killed by the British. Before they set out, they became aware that the ore locks were so loud that the British would surely detect them. One of Revere’s companions ran off, he grabbed three pebbles and went to a nearby home. It was the home of a girl he knew and he tossed those pebbles one at a time at her window. “Who is it?” the girl whispered after opening her window. “It’s Tom, our ore locks are noisy and we need something to quiet them.” The girl turned and when she came back she tossed down pairs of her underwear. Tom stuffed them into the ore locks and quieted them. The three companions began to row their boat out into the river. As they got closer, less than 100 yards away, the full moon shining down on them, their doubts only increased. Paul Revere whispered, “Keep your heads down, do not let them see your white faces, only the hair on your head.”   They were 50 yards from the huge warship when they noticed something. It appeared they were being assisted by someone else. A single cloud had appeared in the otherwise empty sky. As the men rowed closer to the warship, the cloud also began to pass in front of the full moon. The men were able to quietly slip unnoticed beneath the hull of the huge ship and pass safely to the opposite shore. Here, Paul Revere met with John Larkin and learned that the lanterns within Old North church had been lit. There was to be a river crossing of Redcoats. Quietly, Revere was led out to the stable where Beauty was kept. He mounted her and set off for Lexington and Concord. He did not make it far out of eyeshot and still within earshot of Larkin and Revere’s companions when the listeners heard the British guards shouting, “Stop,  ye rider or we will shoot you.” Revere rode harder, his head down as Larkin and the others heard the muskets fire. Then they heard the first of Revere’s cries, “THE BRITISH ARE COMING, THE BRITISH ARE COMING.” Paul Revere road hard through the Massachusetts night and he stopped at every town crying out to the local patriots with those same four words. He rode all night, stopping only to alert the townspeople along his route, of the advancing Redcoats.  He arrived in Lexington around midnight and met up with his counterpart Dawes. He also found John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Jonas Clark. He delivered his message to the three leaders of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and resumed his ride, this time accompanied by Dawes and a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Before the trio could ride the five miles between Lexington and Concord, they encountered a roadblock manned by British soldiers. Responding to the urgency of the moment, they proceeded to break through. Prescott used his intimate knowledge of the countryside to his advantage and successfully eluded capture - he was the only one of the three to complete the journey and deliver the alarm to Concord.  Dawes initially appeared to have escaped his pursuers, but was thrown from his horse and captured. Revere was taken prisoner and during his interrogation deliberately provided greatly inflated numbers of militiamen awaiting the British at Concord. During the ride back to Lexington, Revere and his captors heard shots fire and church bells ring throughout the area — events that gave some credence to Revere’s report of colonial preparations. Fearing for their safety, the Redcoats released Revere, but Revere’s horse had been used to replace the tired mare of a British officer. Revere was given the officer’s older horse.

Revere later joined Hancock and Adams as they retreated into the countryside, but made a frantic return to a Lexington tavern where Hancock had inadvertently left some valuable papers. As dawn broke, Revere departed from the town with the valuable documents in hand and rode past militiamen in the process of assembling. A short time later he could hear shots and see smoke in the distance, the opening rounds in the struggle for independence.