Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an early United States Patriot and a leader of the American Revolution. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and worked there as a silversmith. He was married twice and became the father of 16 children.
Revere was a member of a group called The Sons of Liberty. This group wanted better treatment for the American colonies from the British government. Revere made a silver engraving of the Boston Massacre. This engraving made Americans even more angry with the British.
Revere was a courier and soldier in the American Revolution. After the Revolutionary War in 1801, he opened a metal foundry in Boston called the Revere Copper Company which was the first copper rolling mill in North America. It is still in operation today. He died in Boston, and was buried in the Granary Burying Ground. He is most famous for alerting the colonial militia that British soldiers were coming before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about this called "Paul Revere's Ride."
Midnight Ride
Revere is most famous for his "Midnight Ride". It happened on the night of April 1819, 1775. British officials had learned that American Patriots (the leaders of the American Revolution) were storing guns in Concord, Massachusetts. They wanted to destroy the guns. The Patriots thought the British also wanted to capture Patriot leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams. The two leaders were staying in Lexington, Massachusetts. Revere and a man named William Dawes rode on horseback from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn Adams and Hancock that the British were coming. Revere warned other Patriots along the way.
People commonly believe that Paul Revere arrived in Lexington and shouted his famous quote ("The British are coming!"), but this is false. When Revere arrived in Lexington, he quietly woke up the people and told them about the British to avoid drawing attention to himself. Revere was soon joined by Dawes, who also told the people that the British soldiers were coming. In Concord, Samuel Prescott joined Revere and Dawes. All three were stopped by British soldiers in a field in the city of Lincoln, Massachusetts. Prescott and Dawes escaped quickly. However, the British soldiers held Revere for about an hour before letting him go. Because his horse was gone, Revere ran back to Lexington, where the fighting had already begun. Almost a hundred years later, Paul Revere's Ride revived his fame.
Notes
References
Further reading
This work is extensively footnoted, and contains a voluminous list of primary resources concerning all aspects of the Revere's ride and the battles at Lexington and Concord.
(Volume 2)
Other websites
Paul Revere Heritage Project
The Paul Revere House
An interactive map showing the routes taken by Revere, Dawes, and Prescott
Original copper engravings and other documents in collections of the Massachusetts State Archives Revere Rolling Mill – about the endangered original Revere copper works site in Canton, MA Booknotes interview with David Hackett Fischer on Paul Revere's Ride, July 17, 1994.