The Shot Heard Round the World: The American Revolution Begins, April 19, 1775

On this day, April 19, in 1775, a few shots were fired in the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord, shots whose echoes shook the very foundations of the world and heralded the dawn of a new age.

When the Sons of Liberty found out that the British “Regulars” were planning to march from Boston to seize an arms cache in Concord—and possibly stop in Lexington to arrest Patriots John Hancock and Sam Adams—Paul Revere was sent to sound the alarm. Revere (whose ride ended in capture), William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott warned the Patriot leaders and militia during their historic ride, and the next day 700 British troops found themselves on Lexington Green facing a determined group of about 77 Patriots, including at least one slave, Peter Salem. “Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels,” a British major commanded arrogantly. But the Patriots weren’t interested in surrendering their guns to a tyrannical government, and the American Revolution began…

By the time the British were heading back to Boston from burning stores in Concord, some 2,000 “minutemen,” or Patriot militia nicknamed for their ability to be ready on a minute’s notice, were gathered. More militia kept coming throughout the day. British reinforcements arrived as well, but it was no help as minutemen fired from behind walls, sheds, trees, and houses much of the way back to Boston. The British did try to fight back, but many began to abandon not only clothing and equipment but even weapons in their haste to retreat and escape the Patriot militia’s intense fire…

We Americans now face a tyranny in our own federal government worse than the dictatorial British empire that the colonists so bravely faced up to. Like the Patriots of that time, we too are pressured to surrender our guns, our rights, everything to the mercy of the federal government that labels modern Patriots as “extremists” and “domestic terrorists.” But the echoes of the shot heard round the world sound in our ears even today. Will we heed the call?

Read more on Substack: https://catherinesalgado.substack.com/p/the-shot-heard-round-the-world-the-c05