Why Did The British Shot First

The British soldiers were anything but loved by the American colonists in the 1770s. They maliciously planned an attack on the soldiers because of their hate. Many townspeople gathered together in effort to strike against the British presence. The men were just doing their job trying to keep order in Boston, but the people still taunted them. The soldiers were being tried for murder because they fired at the people, but those charges should not have existed. The crowd initially attacked the soldiers, not the other way around. It was also dark out so the soldiers did not know of the number of colonist attackers. The soldiers heard the word fire coming from the crowd, confusing the voices with Captain Preston’s. The incident referred to as the

The war began with The British attacking a French fort which was protecting French owned land. The name of this place was Fort Duquesne. The British soldiers attacking the fort were led by Gorge Washington, who at the time was only 22. The British soldiers surrendered and the French were the victors of

The American Revolution was a critical turning point in American history. Following the French and Indian War, Britain ignored its previous policy of salutary neglect and began intervening in the colonies affairs through taxes, occupation of soldiers, violation of civil liberties, all the while ignoring colonial pleas for representation in Parliament. These events led to the “shot heard ‘round the world” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. America was now at war with Britain. Nevertheless, the impact of

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.

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.

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.

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

On an “unremarkably clear and pleasant” day in April 19, 1775, the shot that was said to had been able to be heard around the world was fired. (A Guide to Battles) This began the battles in which we know as Lexington and Concord, and the war we know as the Glorious/American revolution. It was fought between the British whom had feared American retaliation for some time, and the American Colonies whom were tired of feeling oppressed by the British. General Thomas Gage advised his British superiors to prepare for war, but this advice was refused and when the time finally came, they were not prepared for the fight at hand. (History of AM Rev) Many events, rules, and regulations helped to lead up to the retaliation of the Americans.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem, “Concord Hymn” supports that the first shot was fired at the North bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. The first stanza of the Concord Hymn is, “By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.” Although, Emerson suggest that it was in Concord where the “shot heard around the world” was fired, desendents of the towns Lexington and Concord still debate this fact today. On Wednesday, April 19, 1775 at the village green in the village of Lexington in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay. Captain John Parker and around 60 militia men, many of the men being related to Parker faced off against 240 redcoats under General Gage’s comand. John Parker was a farmer and had previously fought along side the british. The militia men were not near as well trained or well equipt as the british regulars. There were over one hundred onlookers at the battle of Lexington. Both John Parker’s milita men and Gage’s redcoats were under orders to hold their fire. Nobody is exactly sure who fired the first shot at Lexington, some people believe that it could have been a spectator. Regardless of who fired the first shot.

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.

The actually fighting started in 1775 in Massachusetts when British soldiers were ordered to confiscate arsenal being stored there.

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

In this entry he claimed the Colonist fired first. There are also many sources that state the British fired first. Also all the sources that say this have bias and include false information. An example of this is a sworn testimony by John Bateman. John is a soldier belonging to the 52 regiment and states the colonist fired first.

Due to the cover of the woods and their uniform, the American soldiers easily blended into their surroundings. The soldiers began to take aim at the approaching British army, with their rifles and assault rifles, along with some machine guns and mortars. The order was simple, yet clear. The American Joint Forces would not hit the British till they fired their cannons to signal to the Hessians at the pass below. However, all guns were trained upon the British army as thousands of men waited for the signal. After about an hour of waiting, they finally got the signal they were looking for. The British fired two heavy cannons to signal the Hessians to start

Why do you think no one shoot at the British when the British fired at them?