PAUL REVERE

1. PAUL REVERE Portrait of a Revolutionary War Hero

2. For the next several weeks we are going to be learning more about the American Revolution. • Particularly, Paul Revere • But first let’s do a little review…

3. Living in the Colonies • It is important to remember that ….. • People living in the Colonies considered themselves British citizens. • SO NOW FOR A LITTLE AMERICAN HISTORY REFRESHER…….

4. 1740 • Parliament passed a law permitting citizenship to people who have lived in the colonies for 7 years. It also allowed any citizen of the colonies to carry his or her citizenship from colony to colony. A sense of togetherness was created.

5. 1754-1763 • French and Indian War (or in Europe it is called the 7 years War) was about a land disagreement between the French in North America. The colonists bring British Regular Troops to the colonies. Colonial militias fight alongside the troops. Although Britain and its American colonies win the war, colonists are put off by the obvious arrogance exhibited by British commanders toward them. Colonists also learn first hand how little the “Titled Elite” of England think of them. Many in Britain consider Americans to be second class English citizens and of peasant class, incapable of defending themselves.

6. 1760 • George III becomes England’s king after the death of his grandfather, King George II, courtesy of hereditary succession. (Rights passed down from father [grandfather] to son) So King George III took his reign during the French and Indian war. (aka. 7 yrs. War)

7. More Acts & Taxes Imposed • The Sugar Act - April 1764 tax on sugar and other items that has a big negative impact on markets with which colonies trade. • The Currency Act – 1764 colonies cannot issue their own paper money. • The Stamp Act – March 1765 colonies are angry because they are not part of parliament – no vote or say so. Also newspapers are restricted. “No Taxation without representation!” The Quartering Act – March 1765 requires colonist to allow British Troops to stay in their homes. These Acts severely curtail mercantile trade in the colonies.

8. And More regulations and taxes… • Declaratory Act – March 1766Parliament says it can make laws for the colonies as needed. • August 1766 the NY legislature is suspended by English authorities after it refuses to enforce Quartering Act. • June 1767 – “Townsend Acts” The stamp act is a complete failure and is canceled. But paint, paper, glass, lead, and tea are now taxed as they arrive in the colonies. Angry colonists

9. In 1763, By Royal Proclamation • The western lands (West of Appalachians) were given back to the Indians and bans colonial settlement there. • This was a BIG DEAL because a war was just fought to claim this land. Colonists died in that war. The future growth of the colonies was again in doubt. • Although the law was soon changed, colonists grow suspicious of England.

10. Things are heating up more … • Massachusetts Circular letter- Feb. 1768 is written by Samuel Adams attacking Parliament for their continued taxation. Adams calls for unification of the colonies. • Sept 1768 - English warships sail into Boston Harbor and English Infantry move into Boston to “keep order.”

11. Tension Mounts • March 1769 the House of Burgesses is dissolved by the Royal Governor in Williamsburg, Va. The House of Burgesses was the first legislature in the English colonies and first met at Jamestown, 1619. • March 5, 1770 the Boston Massacre British troops where hanging around and paid little and looked for part-time work. Tensions were high, fights broke out which eventually led to the “massacre.”

12. November 1772 • Samuel Adams creates the “Committees of Correspondence” to inform the towns, providences and colonies of what was happening in Boston.

13. May 1773 • The British East India Tea Company is almost bankrupt and Parliament gives it a near-monopoly to sell tea in the colonies, which undersells or bypasses American merchants altogether. This obvious favoritism astonishes – and infuriates- the colonies.

14. December 1773 • The Boston Tea Party British law states that tea must be off-loaded from ships and the tax on the tea paid by a certain date. If the date passes, troops unload it – triggering a tax bill. • Colonists decide to destroy the tea dumping it overboard into the harbor. Hundreds of local citizens stand on the docks cheering them on.

15. March 1774 • Parliament is furious about the dumped tea and passes the “Intolerable Acts” • England closes Boston Harbor • Many more rights of self-government are taken away for colonists. • May 1774 Martial law is enforced by General Thomas Gage.

16. General Thomas Gage

17. May 1774 General Thomas Gage is appointed Martial Law Governor of Massachusetts. Civil laws, rights and liberties are cancelled and the military has direct rule. It is getting serious now.

18. May- Sept. 1774 • Colonies propose the idea of a Congress to discuss united resistance against the “Intolerable Acts.” • The First Continental Congress. This is considered an act of Treason by England. • “Powder Alarms” British seized gunpowder and other military supplies being gathered by colonists. • Williamsburg and Charleston.

19. Feb. 1775 • The New England Restraining Act The New England colonies are now required to trade with England only, banning trade with other countries. Fishing in North Atlantic is banned as well.

20. April 19, 1775Lexington & Concord • General Gage again attempts to send soldiers to seize colonial military supplies. • Gage gives orders to have Samuel Adams and John Hancock arrested. • Paul Revere, William Dawes, and many others ride off to warn the local population. • The “Shot Heard Around the World” is fired on Lexington Green. • At Concord, several hundred American and British troops are killed and wounded as the Crown’s soldiers retreat in disorder back to Boston. • The “Unthinkable” has to be reported to the King

21. The Colonists Troops • Eventually, there will be as many as 16,000 citizen soldiers from several colonies gathered together.

22. May 10, 1775 • The Second Continental Congress meets.

23. June 15, 1775 • Congress creates the “Continental Army” from citizen soldiers around Boston and names George Washington as its commander. • John Adams suggests George Washington because he was a Virginian. It was important for Southern states to be unified in this fight. • John Hancock thought he was to be appointed commander of the Continental Army.

24. June 17, 1775 • The Battle of Bunker Hill (which was actually fought on Breeds’s Hill). • Concerned that more British soldiers were landing in Boston, colonial soldiers take action and build a redoubt (small fort) across the bay. The British attack it almost immediately. Although Americans are eventually driven back, the British suffer enormous losses, including many valuable combat officers.

25. July 8, 1775 • The “ Olive Branch Petition” is sent to England by Congress. This is a final attempt to “patch things up” with England. King George III ignores it and declares the Americans to be in rebellion. • The King’s word will not reach the colonies until January 1776.

26. Summer 1775 • Continental Congress appoints representatives to create peace treaties with neighboring Indian tribes.

27. September – November 1775 • Major General Benedict Arnold leads 700 colonial soldiers up the Kennebec River (which is today the state of Maine) and attacks British forces in Quebec, Canada. • He is joined by Richard Montgomery, who guided soldiers up through Lake Champlain. • Arnold hopes the attack will inspire local citizenry in Canada to rise up against the British, thereby drawing British forces away from America. • The gamble does not work and the Americans are decisively defeated.

28. October 18, 1775 • English ships attack Falmouth, Maine (Portland waterfront) and burn it to the ground. • Maine was still part of Massachusetts at this time.

29. January 10, 1776 • Common Sense is published just as news arrives that King George III had declared the colonies to be in rebellion. • This means thousands of additional British Regular troops will arrive at the end of winter to “put down” the rebels. • As the weeks pass, Common Sense becomes the largest selling pamphlet in American History.

30. It is still 176 days until the Declaration of Independence !

31. Paul Revere

32. Revere's Early Life • Born in Boston's North End in December, 1734, Paul Revere was the son of Apollos Rivoire, a French Huguenot (Protestant) immigrant, and Deborah Hichborn, daughter of a local artisan family. Rivoire, who changed his name to Paul Revere some time after immigrating, was a goldsmith and eventually the head of a large household. Paul Revere was the second of at least 9, possibly as many as 12 children and the eldest surviving son.

33. Paul was educated at the North Writing School and learned the art of gold and silversmithing from his father. When Paul was nineteen (and nearly finished with his apprenticeship) his father died, leaving Paul as the family's main source of income. Two years later, in 1756, Revere volunteered to fight the French at Lake George, New York, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the colonial artillery. • In August, 1757, Revere married Sarah Orne. Together, they had eight children. Soon after Sarah's death in 1773, Revere married Rachel Walker with whom he had eight children.

34. Political Activities / Revolutionary War • Revere's political involvement arose through his connections with members of local organizations and his business patrons. • As a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, he was friendly with activists like James Otis and Dr. Joseph Warren. • In the year before the Revolution, Revere gathered intelligence information by "watching the Movements of British Soldiers," as he wrote in an account of his ride. *****

35. Express Rider • He was a courier for the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, riding express to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. • He also spread the word of the Boston Tea Party to New York and Philadelphia. • *****

37. At 10 pm on the night of April 18, 1775, Revere received instructions from Dr. Joseph Warren to ride to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the British approach and they were to be arrested.

38. The Old North Church • A signal was arranged that if the British were leaving Boston, one light would shine in the tower if the British troops were leaving by land. • Two lights meant that they were leaving by sea. • How many lights were in the North Church tower ?

39. Two lights were showing to indicate the British Troops were crossing Boston Harbor as they left Boston.

40. Ahead of the British Troops, Revere was rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates. Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend, Deacon John Larkin of the Old North Church.

41. Charles River, Boston

42. Paul Revere being rowed across the Charles River • "I left Dr. Warrens, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the Signals. I then went Home, took my Boots and Surtout, and went to the North part of the Town, Where I had kept a Boat; two friends rowed me across Charles River . . . They landed me on Charlestown side."Letter Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap, 1798 • Revere's two friends who rowed him to Charlestown were Joshua Bentley, a boat builder and Thomas Richardson, a shipwright. They would have been perfect for the job: local men who were expert rowers and familiar enough with the shoreline and harbor to attempt this mission in the dark of the night.

43. While in Charlestown, he verified that the local "Sons of Liberty"committee had seen his pre-arranged signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck. • Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend, as he was afraid that he might be prevented from leaving Boston). ******

44. Revere’s Crossing

48. On the way to Lexington, Revere "alarmed" the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. • As he approached the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. • "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!"

49. After delivering his message, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. • Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. • Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. • Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.