Paul Revere's ride....or not!

"Paul Revere's Ride"....or NOT!!"

I do not consider myself an expert historian and certainly do not rank myself in the same literary category as those including Shelby Foote, James McPherson, Michael Shaara, and Daniel Martinez.  However, I do believe that I am learned enough to hold my own in any kind of historical dialogue regarding various portions of American history.

One of the most frustrating and annoying aspects of studying and subsequently teaching American history…(ok, I admit….it makes me downright MAD!)….is the misinformation, inconsistencies, and LIES that have been printed and continue to be printed in history curriculum and taught to our children over the past century.

The dictionary defines the term “ignorant” as “lacking knowledge or information.”  We are all “ignorant” of some things.  Only when we become “knowledgeable” about things do we cease to be ignorant.  Simple concept.

For decades those who write the curriculum have relied on previous information from previous textbooks or from those who loosely “verified” documentation.  Unfortunately, as members of academia began doing extensive research on various topics, discovering the inconsistencies and misinformation in the nation’s textbooks, very little was done to correct the wrong.  This is doing our young people a great disservice.

Recently my grandson was learning about Paul Revere and his famous “ride.”  In case you aren’t aware, the current info we have been taught is really as a result of Longfellow’s famous poem.  Read that poem and one gets the impression that Paul Revere did all this by himself.  So, that is how history has presented the event.  Anyway, when his teacher said that Revere made the ride, my grandson stepped up and said “No he didn’t!  He didn’t finish it.”  Long story short, the teacher said his grandmother was wrong.  Now, I take that personal!!!  So, if by chance that particular teacher ever reads this blog, I have one thing to say to you….DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!!!  (ok, I feel a little better now.)

It’s not that I am this super intelligent human person, it’s that I do research! And I try to verify and re-verify that research!! Below is just an excerpt from something I Googled just a few minutes ago.

In 1774 and the Spring of 1775 Paul Revere was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. After being rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. 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).

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!" 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.

Lest you think my research comes only from the Internet, in doing this search years ago, I was able to get a photocopy of a handwritten letter from Paul Revere to General Washington verifying the entire event.  SOOOOO,  Paul Revere, one of MANY members of the Sons of Liberty, was joined by two other riders and were ARRESTED by an enemy patrol It was Dr. Samuel Prescott who managed to escape and it was HE who finished the ride.  This information is documented and verified by the U.S. Library of Congress; and if I was able to acquire it, anyone can.  Nuff said!!! 

Oh, and one more thing…it is highly unlikely that anyone yelled “The British are coming; the British are coming!!”  Think about it…this was PRE-war; they were ALL British subjects.  It would be like them riding through town yelling “I’m coming, I’m coming!”  In all likelihood, they probably used the term “Regulars” since British troops were generally referred to by that name.  “Redcoats,” a derogatory term for the regulars, was also used.

It is my goal to cover about four or five major discrepancies found in our history books, but this Paul Revere thing has been an irritation to me for a long time….that and the Betsy Ross story…which is another blog. (she didn’t sew the flag, folks!)