Revolutionary War Dbq

The first battle that caused the Revolutionary War took place at lexington, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775. Which side fired first is unknown. It could have been british or colonist, but from what we know about the event, the most logical answer would be the colonist fired first. Even though there are evidence for both sides of the story, evidence that proves colonist shot first is most reasonable and understandable. There are even more personal opinions that could persuade most people that they fired first. Also they had every right to do so.

The British did indeed fire first but fell back when more and more militiamen showed up. By the time British soldiers were prepared to return back to Boston, almost 2000 militiamen arrived and more were arriving. Fighting had started yet again with militiamen hiding behind bushes in trees. British soldiers pulled back to Lexington where they had came into contact with more reinforcements of Redcoats. This didn’t stop the Patriots from continuing to resume attacks. The British tried and tried with Redcoats flanking and canon fire. The Patriots had a chance to finish the Redcoats off but were commanded not to. The British Redcoats retreated to Charlestown Neck. The Americans had won the battle, neither Samuel Adams or John Hancock had been taken and they only destroyed very little military supplies! By the end of the day Britain lost 293 soldier and the colonials 93. The colonial Patriots proved they were more than a group of unorganized colonial rebels.

On April 19th, 1775, infantrymen of the British Army clashed with colonial Patriots near Boston, MA. British troops, also known as redcoats, had been in Boston for seven years to ensure that the Intolerable Acts were enforced. Colonists had already demonstrated their displeasure for their king with the Boston Tea Party, and now the British were on the offensive attempting to confiscate the arms of the rebels. Militiamen were alerted and a standoff occurred at Lexington and Concord. History has left us in doubt about which side fired first, triggering the Revolutionary War. But various stories give different accounts. American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson called it the "shot heard 'round the world," and described it as coming from the colonials. There is more reason to believe that the first shot did come from the side of the Patriots simply because they had more to gain by initiating a war. This paper will show why it is more reasonable to believe that the Patriots fired first.

These were not the only incidents that caused unrest to exist between the Colonies and the British. There had been incidents between British soldiers and colonists for some time, due mainly to the Quartering Act. These incidents finally erupted into the Boston Massacre, an event that resulted in colonists’ deaths and more distrust. These feelings of discontent and the growing fear of an uprising would lead the British to proceed to Lexington and Concord and destroy colonial military supplies. This left the colonists with the feeling of hatred and total malice towards the British. Neither side trusted the other, and had concerns that the opposition would launch an attack upon them. When the British planned to occupy Dorchester Heights on the Boston Peninsula, the colonists became alarmed at the build up of British troops off the coast. The colonists decided that action had to be taken; they had to stop the threatening British movement in this territory to protect them from an attack.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the start of the American Revolution. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775 when an armed militia of patriots in Lexington, called the Minutemen because they supposedly could assemble in a minute, awaited the British army who marched to Lexington to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, two revolutionary leaders. The British heavily outnumbered the colonists. The two sides were not yet fighting when a single gunshot was fired. To this day, no one knows which side fired the first shot, but the battles that day caused the beginning of military violence between Great Britain and the American Colonists.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, there were shots fired between the British and the Colonists. The question on the table here is; Who fired first? The event of the shooting took place in Lexington near the Bedford road. Both parties claim the other company is responsible for the shots fired. The British say they came into the colonists’ area, yet they did not fire until the colonists did. On the other side, the colonists state the British came in and fired, so they dispersed but did not shoot. This was the case until one individual confessed to giving them “the guts of his gun” from a distance after the rest had fled. Both companies have very different statements. I have sided with the colonists sin believing the British fired first.

Who was the first one to fire in the Battle of Lexington? The Battle of Lexington was fought between the British and the thirteen Colonies. The day before the British and Colonist were already arguing over taxes. There are so many different sides to this story. This battle led up to the Revolutionary War. When the British and Colonist got together, the British stated, “Put down all your weapons, you damned rebels, or we will kill you all.” After that the Colonists’ captain ordered every man to take care of himself. Now I will tell you how I think the British shot first.

When the British first started the attack they assumed Loyalists would join them in the attack, but to their surprise not many joined in, leaving the battle to be fought by the Patriots, French, British, and Hessians. In October of 1779 an important attack from the Patriots failed, leading to a victory for the British.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord started when a group of militiamen went out to stop British soldiers who were on their way seize guns that the colonists had stockpiled. Both sides were told not to fire unless fired upon. A shot was fired from someone in the crowd of militiamen and soldiers. Gunshots exploded from both sides. Once the first shot was fired it was chaos. Eight militiamen were killed and several wounded. No soldiers were killed and one was wounded. No one knows who fired the first

While the British were in the streets of Boston the colonists decided to protest the king. The colonists were protesting that the taxes that the kind had on the people were unfair. The colonists started with using verbal abuse, but eventually they started throwing things and beating the soldiers. The colonists were saying things like “Fire you bloody lobsters” and throwing things such as snowballs, pebbles, rocks, sticks basically anything they could find. Since the colonists were threatening the British they had a reason to fire. A report made shows that one colonist was physically beating one of the British guards. This colonist had no charges filed against him, but the British soldier was the one who fired the first shot. The British was put in jail for using self defense against the

The question who fired the first shot in Lexington is hard to answer. but I know that the colonist fired first on April 19, 1775. Which created the revolutionary war that liberated the colonist from the British. The cause of this conflict between the British and colonist is due to the British’s acts they put on the colonist. For example, the intolerable acts which made the colonist angry towards the British.

Both sources say that the British soldier on duty and a colonist had an altercation. After the altercation both men sent for their friends and fellow soldiers. When the friends and soldiers arrived the altercation escalated. Both sources claim that British soldiers were the first to fire into the crowd of colonists. In conclusion this was the unofficial start to the Revolutionary war. With 3 dead the war had been initiated.

The battle of Lexington and Concord was the first battle for independence in the Revolutionary War. The British came to battle with the militia from Lexington. The first shot was fired by the British according to account 1 states, that the colonists were not going to fire unless fired at. This account is reliable because it was from someone fighting in the battle. As account 4 states, the first shot was fired by the British because the man witnessed the bullets being shot. This account is reliable because he is somebody that witnessed the event happening. Therefore, the British fired the shot heard around the world because they had reliable witnesses that watched the British fire at the colonists in the battle at Lexington and Concord.

Later known as the “shot heard round the world,” this was the beginning of the revolution because the colonies had finally decided that they wanted to get their independence from Great Britain. The fighting lasted for a couple of hours and when it ended in Lexington, eight of the

The Boston Massacre is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The fatal incident happened on March 5 of 1770. The massacre resulted in the death of five colonists. British troops in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were there to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, but instead they provoked outrage. The British soldiers and citizens brawled in streets and fought in bars. “The citizens viewed the British soldiers as potential oppressors, competitors for jobs, and a treat to social mores”. A defiant anti-British fever was lingering among the townspeople.