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Previous Issues > April 2007 > Way Back When > Paul Revere's Ride
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 Way Back When
Paul Revere's Ride
Way back when on April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode from Boston to Lexington at midnight to warn everyone that the British were coming. Revere was a silversmith during the American Revolution and believed that the colonies in America deserved independence from Great Britain. He also participated in the Boston Tea party in 1773 dressed as a Native American.
In 1775, Revere was a member of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. He was employed by that committee and the Boston Committee of Correspondence as an express rider. His job was to carry news and messages to far away cities, like New York. On April 18, 1775, Revere was instructed to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams (who were important people in the American Revolution) that British troops were coming to arrest them. He traveled by horseback through the night, stopping at houses along the way, to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn that the British were coming. Because of his warning, the two men were able to get to safety.
Revere became well-known in American history when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about him called The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, which is one of the most famous American poems. The poems opening lines are well known: Listen, my children, and you will hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
As well as being a revolutionary, Revere was a great silversmith who created surgical tools, replaced missing teeth and engraved copper plates.
Ashley Genova is a freelance writer from Fayetteville, NC. Sources: Brittanica Online article 9063354; Paul Revere Memorial Association, www.paulreverehouse.org.
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