American Revolution Begins
April 19, 1775 · Early Modern
On April 19, 1775, British regulars marched from Boston to seize colonial military supplies at Concord. Warned by riders including Paul Revere, militia assembled at Lexington, where shots fired at dawn killed eight colonists. At Concord's North Bridge, over 300 militia forced the British covering party to withdraw. The 20-mile return march became an ordeal as colonists fired from behind walls, trees, and buildings. British losses totaled 273; American losses 95. Within days, 16,000 New Englanders mobilized and began the Siege of Boston.
Key Figures
Samuel AdamsJohn HancockCaptain John ParkerLieutenant Colonel Francis SmithMajor John PitcairnPaul Revere
Locations
Boston, MassachusettsLexington, MassachusettsConcord, MassachusettsLexington GreenNorth Bridge, Concord
Topics
independenceamerican colonistsbritishAmerican Revolutionunited statescurriculum5th grade
Connected Events — 7 Connections
The Revolutionary War's founding principle that 'all men are created equal' created the fundamental ideological contradiction with slavery that Stowe exploited in Uncle Tom's Cabin, using America's own founding documents to argue against the peculiar institution Uncle Toms Cabin
The military conflict initiated at Lexington and Concord required formal diplomatic conclusion, which the Treaty of Paris provided by establishing the terms for British military evacuation and territorial boundaries Treaty of Paris
The armed conflicts at Lexington and Concord transformed colonial resistance from protest to open rebellion, making a formal declaration of independence both necessary and inevitable within fifteen months Declaration of Independence Adopted
Whitney's birth during revolutionary period shaped the emerging nation's industrial needs and his later government contracts for firearms manufacturing Eli Whitney Born
The Tea Party's destruction of East India Company property prompted Parliament to pass the Coercive Acts in 1774, which united colonial opposition and led Samuel Adams and other Sons of Liberty to stockpile weapons in Concord - the very weapons British forces marched to seize on April 19, 1775 Boston Tea Party
The Massacre established the inflammatory precedent of British soldiers firing on colonial civilians, creating the psychological framework that allowed colonists to interpret the British march on Concord as an act of war rather than legitimate law enforcement Boston Massacre
Established precedent for colonial independence from European powers and provided ideological framework of natural rights that influenced Mexican independence thought Mexican War of Independence
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