Battle Of Lexington Research Paper

The importance of this raid lay in the fact that they captured much-needed cannons and gunpowder.

The first shots of the Revolution rang out April 19 1775 at Lexington green. Reports say the British fired first killing eight patriots. I believe these reports to be true. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this, since none of us were there, no one can be certain on who fired first. Evidence shows the British fired first. I think based on the evidence provided it was very easy to see the British were the first to fire the shot of the revolution.

On April 19th, 1775 British troops were marching to Lexington where many militia were already awaiting their arrival. The British were after the ammunition of the militia. Paul Revere had warned the militia ahead of time so that they could be prepared. They removed their stockpiles of ammunition from their hiding places and moved them to a new shelter. When the British arrived at Lexington, the militia were lined up, ready to defend themselves. The British stopped, prepared to face the militia. They

Men will always fight to defend their property and their independence. This was evident in the Battle of Lexington and Concord which was one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War and the first step towards America’s independence. This battle was fought between the sophisticated British Army, also known as the Redcoats, and local the colonist men also known as minutemen. The colonies were overmatched in size and equipment however that did not stop them from fighting for their weapons and most importantly their rights.

Washington fires the first shot with a mortar hitting a house with British soldiers eating starting the siege. Cornwallis had to rely on his ten forts called redoubts to defend Yorktown. General Washington knew he had to take out redoubts nine and ten in order to get close enough to attack Cornwallis. On one moonless night with Jupiter and Venus glowing brightly 400 French soldiers attacked redoubt nine while 400 (with one soldier thinking it was the signal to attack) American soldiers attacked redoubt ten. In an attempt to turn the tide Cornwallis sent the British army to attack the nearest allied troops in an attempt to spike (to take a spike usually made of iron pounded into the hole where the fuse in the cannon goes requiring the army to have to drill it out damaging the weapon) or fill the cannons with dirt rendering them useless until the cannons can be cleaned. The attack was doomed form the start, and the British were pushed back after a brief battle, and the allied army shortly repaired the cannons and put them back into the fight. After a few days of fighting the Cornwallis ran away to hide in Yorktown’s cave. Not really inspiring for the British army to have their general run and hide in a cave for that is very embarrassing for a

The two sides eyed each other and waited for the first move. No one is sure who made the first move, all we know is that a shot rang out and the fighting started. This first shot is called the “shot heard round the world”.The militia or residential army alongside the minutemen who claimed to able to be ready to fight within a minute were no match for the British troops. The Americans were defeated and the British moved on to concord to seize the gunpowder. The British troops were met by more minutemen and more of the militia. This time the battle was much harder for the British and eventually they had to retreat. The British retreated toward Boston and were again sucked into combat with the colonial minutemen and militia. The colonists killed over 125 people including British officers. These fights where the British had killed Americans were taken and made into propaganda to increase the tension between the two

Who fired first in the historical Battle of Lexington? Well there is no right answer history has shown people have come up with theses trying to prove what had happened but we just really don’t know. But I think I have found the the answer. I believe the colonist fired first because they have a history of antagonizing the british in some situation’s it has turned deadly. Also on many accounts of the events they had been found guilty of firing first.My reasons to support my thesis are from British Lieutenant John Barker’s personal diary of the day of the event and George Leonard a colonist who wrote to British general to tell him what he experienced. My rebuttal sources are Simon Winship’s official deposition in which he claims that the

“Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels” (1775, 04/19: Battles of Lexington and Concord. (2007, June 26). The militiamen, who were greatly outnumbered, were ordered to leave when a shot rang out. No one really knows who fired first, but the British, hearing the shot, fired upon the small group of militia, killing eight and wounding 10 (1775, 04/19: Battles of Lexington and Concord. (2007, June 26).

The British fired the first shot at the Battle of Lexington. For example, “...I believe between 200 and 300, formed in a common in the middle of the town….As we came near them, they fired one or two shots, upon which our men without any orders, fired and put them to flight” (Document A: Barker). Lieutenant John Barker was only one person in the British Army, and it is very unlikely that he was able to see, or hear, everything that was going on from his position on Lexington Green. As he approached the Green, he could have only been in earshot when the minutemen were firing in response to the British firing and not when the British first fired, or he thought the shot or shots were from the opposing side and not his own. Also, “While our backs

This year the National History Day topic theme is “Taking a Stand”. When I think about a significant time in history where people made a stand for a cause against seemingly insurmountable odds, I think of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. American colonists, often known as the Patriots, stood up against British troops, preventing them from seizing their weapons and ammunition and capturing the leaders of the rebellion. It was this stand that began the American Revolution. The Patriot’s stand against the British ultimately lead to the creation of the United States of America and massively shaped modern history. But what if the colonists never took a stand? What would have happened and how would modern history look today? If the Patriots never made their stand, the American Revolution may not have happened. What is now the United States of America would have likely remained British, which would have created very different modern history.

The British response to this was the attempted arrest of Johns Hancock and Samuel Adams and an army of British solders set a course from Boston to Concord to carry out the orders. In Lexington the British army ordered the Minute man to disperse and in the confusion a shot was fired provoking both sides into firing on each other. This was called the shot heard around the world and the start of the Revolutionary

The war of 1812 revealed that the economy had vast amount of issues, not only was there not a transportation nor a financial system, a second bank needed to be funded to restore the currency problems. On another hand the war brought out new spirit of nationalism and the territorial expansion.

“Many historians consider the Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780 to be the turning point in America's War for Independence.” (hankla)

Who shot first? In my opinion, I think the colonists shot first. There are a few reason I think this. For one, I think the colonists shot first because the redcoats were already on the march to the colonists and that might’ve meant they were about to shoot first. Sylvanus Affidavit and Robert Douglass were on their way to Lexington. Upon their arrival, a messenger came up to Captain Parker to inform him that the Redcoats were within half a mile. I think the reason the redcoats were within a mile is because that they wanted to start war, or in other words, shoot the shot that was heard around the world. That is my take on the “Shot Heard Around the World”.

The person who I guess, who first shot in the battle is the British. The reason why I conceive that because on the Diary Ezra Stiles. The reason why I chose Ezra Stiles's diary, is because in one subdivision in his diary it straightly said that the colonists fired first. The evidence that supports my answer is, “ Major Pitcairn who was a good man in a bad cause, insisted upon the day of his death, that the colonists fired first…” (Stiles, 11).