The Second Amendment & Paul Revere's Ride
When the British military attempted to seize the ammunition and guns of the Americans, they ignited the first battles of the American Revolution, the origin of the Second Amendment.
Adapted from my book Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War.
The first battles of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord in 1775 were fought because the British military attempted to seize the guns and ammunition stores of the American colonists. Think about that. The British government first tried to take away their ability to defend themselves. This literally launched the Revolutionary War.
Never forgetting that the British had started the war by attempting to take their weapons, Americans placed their right to defend themselves into the Constitution through the Second Amendment in 1791.
This book excerpt features Paul Revere’s ride in his own words about the British marching to Lexington, the reason he gave for their march to Concord, and the moment that he needed self-defense when six British officers captured him by aiming their pistols at his breast.
“Paul Revere of Boston in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in New England of lawful age doth testify and say that I was in Boston on the evening of the 18th of April, 1775,” Paul Revere began his testimony about the night when speed became his sword and shield.
Revere explained that Dr. Joseph Warren had given him a special assignment.
“[Warren] desired me ‘to go to Lexington, and inform Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Honorable John Hancock. Esq. that there was a number of (British) soldiers . . . marching to the bottom of the Common, where was a number of boats to receive them. It was supposed that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them [Adams and Hancock] or go to Concord, to destroy the Colony stores [of ammunition].’”
Messaging missions were nothing new for this silversmith. He had ridden great distances many times. First, the selectmen of Boston had called on him in 1773 to spread the news of the Boston Tea Party to New Yorkers.
Carrying messages calling for a meeting of a Continental Congress, he had also ridden to New York and Philadelphia in 1774. The mission of April 18, 1775, however, was under threatening circumstances and required miraculous speed.
“I proceeded immediately, and was put across Charles River, in a boat and landed near Charlestown Battery, went in to the town, and there got a horse,” Revere testified, explaining that he rode much of the way in a full gallop under a bright moon.
After warning Adams and Hancock that British soldiers were traveling to Lexington, Revere headed for Concord to catch up with the other messengers who were also spreading the news.
“In an instant I saw four officers who rode up to me, with their pistols in their hands,” Revere reported.
These British regulars threatened his life if he did not stop. Racing into the nearby woods, Revere tried to escape to an adjacent pasture.
“Just as I reached it, out started six officers, [seized] my bridle; put their pistols to my breast, ordered me to dismount, which I did. One of them, who appeared to have the command there; and much of a gentleman, asked me where I came from. I told him. He asked what time I left it. I told him [10:00 p.m.]. He seemed surprised,” Revere reported of how impressed the officer was with his speed that night.
Revere described how the soldiers threatened his life if he did not tell the truth. Making him a prisoner, they led him back to Lexington before letting him go. He then speedily returned to the meetinghouse to warn Hancock and Adams that the British weren’t merely coming, they had come.
Paul Revere waved the warning flag that night. And he did it with all deliberate speed.
“He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!” (ISAIAH 5:26).
PRAYER
God, become my banner today. I know you do not delay, you come swiftly to answer my cries.
Adapted from my book Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War.