Happy Birthday Paul Revere

Happy Birthday Paul Revere

Don't forget to go to www.thehistoryrevolution.com/paulrevere to download your free Paul Revere companion worksheet.

Early Life

Paul Revere was born December 21st, 1734 or January 1st, 1735. Now, this date depends on if you are using a Julian Calendar, known as Old Style, or a Gregorian calendar, known as new style.  His father, Apollos Rivoire, a French Hugenot emigrated to America at the age of 13.  His mother, Deborah Hichborn, was the descendant of English Puritan settlers. Paul was the 3rd of 9 children and the oldest surviving male.  He apprenticed as a silversmith under his fathers tutelage until his father passed away when Paul was only 19. During the French and Indian War, for a short period, Paul was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Massachusetts artillery. After returning from the war he began his silversmithing career in earnest. 

Paul Revere Forensic Dentist

Paul Revere was also known as an amateur Dentist. In fact he is referred to as America’s first forensic dentist. In order to supplement his income in the tough economy following the French and Indian War, he began cleaning teeth as well as making false teeth from ivory or animal teeth. One of his customers was fellow patriot and friend, Dr. Joseph Warren. Dr. Warren was actually the person who sent Revere on his midnight ride but more about that later. Dr. Warren was Commissioned a major general in the Massachusetts militia yet he fought as a private because of his lack of military experience.

He fought in the battle of Bunker Hill where he died on June 17, 1775 defending his fellow militiamen.  Fast forward 9 months to March of 1776 and the British have evacuated Boston.  Revere and others went to the battlefield hoping to identify those that died including Dr. Joseph Warren.  During their search, they found a grave with 2 unrecognizable bodies. However, Revere was able to identify Dr. Warren by the walrus tooth and the wire he had used to replace a missing tooth. 

Family Life

Paul Revere had 16 children! 16! He and his first wife Sarah had 8 children together. Shortly after she passed away, he married his second wife Rachel who also gave him 8 children.

Political Activism

Revere is most known for his political activism.  According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Paul Revere founded the first Patriot intelligence network on record, a Boston-based group known as the “mechanics.” Prior to the American Revolution, he had been a member of the Sons of Liberty, a political organization that opposed incendiary tax legislation such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and organized demonstrations against the British. 

In December of 1773, Paul Revere was among over 50 men who dressed like Native Americans, snuck aboard ships in the Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of British East India Company Tea into the harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a protest of the Tea Act. It was an example of the colonist’s commitment to the principle of “No taxation without representation”.

What is taxation without representation? England's war against France was very expensive. In order to pay off their debt and recoup some of the costs, the British parliament began imposing new taxes, particularly on the American colonies. These taxes were exorbitant and pertained to almost every item that colonists needed or wanted. Furthermore, there were laws that colonists were barred from trading with other countries. This meant they could only buy the British goods. These taxes on the American colonies were passed in the British Parliament, where the colonies had no representation. In other words, the colonies had no one in Parliament to represent them. No one to fight on the behalf of the colonists. No one to protest the unfair nature of the taxes. Therefore the colonists were subject to Taxation with Representation.

Beginning in 1774, the mechanics, also referred to as the Liberty Boys, spied on British soldiers and met regularly (in the legendary Green Dragon Tavern) to share information. 

"Messenger of the American Revolution"

Paul Revere carried news of the Boston Tea Party to New York and regularly carried news and correspondence between Boston and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. His engraving of the Boston Massacre spread far and wide to help rally the patriots cause. His engravings were regularly used in patriotic propaganda. 

Paul Revere’s Ride

What we know Paul Revere for most, is his midnight ride to Lexington and Concord to warn that the British were coming.  Funny enough, most of what we think we know of that night comes from a poem written almost a hundred years later by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “Paul Revere’s Ride”. So what do we really know about that night? For one thing Revere was not alone.

On April 18, 1775 Dr. Joseph Warren, who we discussed earlier, summoned Paul Revere and dispatched him to ride to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Hancock and Adams were leaders of the Sons of Liberty and were in hiding in Lexington. Dr. Warren’s intelligence (or spies) told him that British troops were marching to Lexington to arrest the pair. It is now believed that was untrue. Regardless, around 700 British troops were on the move and on a mission.  

One if by land, Two if by sea

The patriots devised a signal from the steeple of The Old North Church. Robert John Newman, the church sexton, along with Captain John Pulling, took two lanterns to the steeple of the church.  Thomas Bernard waited outside in the street and kept an eye out for the British troops movements. The common myth is that Paul Revere was waiting on the signal from the lanterns before he rode. That is false.  The lanterns were actually a backup in case Revere and others were captured or unable to leave the city because of all the British patrols that were swarming the area.  They had picked the Old North Church because of its location and because it was one of the highest points that could be seen from far away and across the river in Charlestown. 

The British Are coming

Revere and Fellow rider, William Dawes, set out at around 10pm on different routes toward Lexington. They had to be very careful to avoid British patrols and loyalists between Boston and Lexington.  Revere, who had crossed the river and had the shorter route, arrived in Lexington first to warn Adams and Hancock of the British troops. Dawes had the longer land route from Boston to Lexington. Once Dawes arrived at the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, he and Revere both had something to eat and drink, then set out toward Concord.  

It was believed that Concord was also a target of the British. Concord is where the patriots had stockpiled many of their military supplies including guns, ammunition, gunpowder, and even cannons.  On the way, they were met by Samuel Prescott who was also a member of the Sons of Liberty.  The trio continued on to Concord.  Unfortunately they were intercepted by a British patrol. Luckily Prescott and Dawes were able to escape.  Revere was held and questioned by the patrol but was eventually released, although his horse was commandeered by the patrol. Dawes and Prescott continued towards Concord. Unfortunately Dawes’ horse was too tired to continue and Dawes fell off. Prescott was the only one who actually made it to Concord. After his horse was confiscated, Revere began walking back to Lexington just in time to witness the battle. The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary war and certainly considered the spark of the revolution.

War Time

 During the war Revere remained dedicated to the patriot cause.  He continued as a messenger and built a gunpowder mill in Canton, MA.  He was also in the Massachusetts militia but his military career is considered lackluster at best.

Post War

After the war, Revere continued to grow his business as a silver and gold smith as well as starting an iron foundry. He began making bigger items like church bells, cannons, and working with copper. In fact, he opened the first copper mill in North America.

He remained involved politically after the war as well.  He was an ardent Federalist because he saw how the political system would have benefited smaller businesses like his. He even helped get the constitution ratified in the state of Massachusetts.  

Revere lived to be 83 years old and died on May 10, 1818. His legacy, although a bit inaccurate, lives on to this day.  Paul Revere was a great patriot and his actions were pivotal to the founding of this great nation.  

Remember go to www.thehistoryrevolution.com/paulrevere to download your free Paul Revere companion worksheet.