Summary Of The Minutemen And Their World

The book The Minutemen and Their World was written by Robert A. Gross, and took place during the late 1700’s in the small town Concord, Massachusetts and the people who inhabited it. He wrote about Concord’s government and how it changed over the years and the struggles the town’s people go through. Robert Gross wrote this book like a story but it is clear how much research went in to the book itself just by looking in the Notes section in the back of the book. This book demonstrates how the town of Concord coped with the Revolutionary War, he concentrated on the lives of the townspeople and the farmers, and Concord’s main political problems. In the book, Robert Gross dusts over some of the main problems the town of Concord had. They had issues staying united. The farmers and city slickers didn’t agree on political topics, such

Robert A. Gross the author of “The Minutemen and their World” gives a very detailed nonfictional narrative of the small town of Concord, Massauchessets. Gross describes the American Revelotion through the eyes of this community which paints a more vivid picture of the events taking place up to the war which seperated the Unite States for Great Britian through a perspective that I have never seen before.

Similar to the way that the colonial and British perspectives greatly varied for the Boston Massacre, their opinions are once again vastly different for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In this event as well, both parties attempt to place the blame on the other which is not unusual due the nature of the sources. However, this highlights the large amount of bias evident in all of the accounts. For the colonial perspective, there are two statements, each from a member of a colonial militia that fought during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Both of these sources place the blame on the British soldiers and claim that the British fired first, killing several colonists. One account, from the Battle of North Bridge, claims that the colonists were ordered to hold their fire and that they didn’t fire until the British opened fire upon them. The other account, from soldier who fought during the skirmish at the Lexington Green, states that the colonists did not even get a single shot off, at least not before the soldier whose account this is was wounded. This source also claims that the British commanding officers were yelling at and insulting the colonists as their ranks closed on the milita. Both these sources are very similar to the colonial perspectives of the Boston Massacre because they all place the blame on the British soldiers and attempt to make themselves appear as the victims.

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

Shortly after George Washington becoming chief, Britain's General Gage a discreet plan to send out British soldiers to Lexington April 19th, 1775, where their goal was to capture Colonial leaders such as John Hancock and leader Samuel Adams, then to concord, where they would have to seize all gunpowder. Fortunately friends of the Americans leaked Gage’s plan to the people. Two

The soldiers lined up, facing the crowd to try and dissolve the problem but the people were not backing down. Bostonians continued to taut the soldiers, yelling at them to fire their weapons. Not long after, shots were fired killing five Bostonians and wounding six others. The big question still unanswered today is whether or not Captain Preston yelled for the soldiers to fire or not.

According to Rebecca Brooks, the colonists were the ones that were teased into taking actions. Her side of the story stated that the British soldiers were in Boston mainly for protection as more taxes

Spies warned General Thomas Gage of the British military that colonists were gathering weapons to fight against the British for their independence. (Waldman 5) On April 14, 1775 General Thomas Gage received covert orders from Britain capture colonial leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who had been provoking the colonists to rebel against the British for their freedom, as well as to capture and destroy the colonial rebels military supplies. Spies and friends of the colonial Patriots leaked out General Gage's plan. Through the late nights of April 19, 1775 General Gage sent 700 British Redcoats to Lexington green. The colonial Patriots had assembled a halt to try and slow the British's progression towards Concord. Both sides came into contact and stood their ground intensely. “Lay down your arms, you damned rebels, or you are all dead men!” (King 25) A shot was fired, (unclear still to this day what side shot first) and the Battle of Lexington and Concord had begun! Chaos back and forth between the two sides as they were firing at each other. When the smoke had cleared eight rebellious Patriots lay dead and nine were wounded, while the British Redcoats only had one injured. The British Redcoats

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

The Battles of Lexington and Concord are the initial battles of the revolutionary war. In the Revolutionary war Britain descovers that the terrnosity of the Americans will not so easily be silenced. Hundreds of British troops, exstimated to be around 700, marched from Boston to Lexington on the evening of April 18, 1775, with secret orders to capture any weapons availble to the American militia. Thanks to the efforts of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who rode from Boston to Lexington in the middle of the night. Colonial leaders John Handcock and Samuel Adams were warned of the intentions of the oncoming redcoats. The British red coats clashed witlh American militia at Lexington on April 19, 1775.

Once the Redcoats were set up to the best of their ability, the militiamen continued to move forward. As the militiamen closed in the British fired the first volley, Private Abner Hosmer and Captain Isaac Davis were at the head of the march and were killed instantly. That volley was the start of the Revolutionary War and is now known as the “Shot Heard around the World”. The militiamen

At about five o’clock in the morning,an unknown participant fired the first shot,and then all Boston fortified against the American patriots.(McGill 1)After Americans espied as many as 40 boats or barges coming over,full of troops.(Grayson 40)British Lieutenant General Thomas Gage planned to fortify the hills on Dorchester Heights,south of Boston.(James Kirby 1)The bloodiest battle of the American Revolutionary War started.(James Kirby 1)

As Donald N. Moran notes, the British light infantry was told, "On no account to fire, nor even attempt it without orders," by second-in-command Major John Pitcairn as he and his men marched to Lexington that morning. That is, at least, the report of Colonel Smith which was given to General Gage. General Gage himself seemed to have little interest in stirring the hornet's nest that was right outside his door. As military governor of Massachusetts,

From the British only one soldier is wounded, but the American revolution has just begun. Their is tension between the American colonies and the British government, reaching the breaking point. The British governor of Massachusetts, who is also General Thomas Gage, received instructions

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.