Battle+of+Lexington+and+Concord

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The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the battle that started the Revolutionary War. The battle took place between April 18 and April 19, 1775. The war was fought between the British Bluecoats and the American "Minutemen" Militia. Lexington was fifteen miles from Boston, and Concord was sixteen miles from Boston. British soldiers were spotted in the early morning heading towards the city of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Their primary objective was to locate and destroy any of the Colonist's guns and ammunition that was being stored in Lexington, and to find and capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, as they had a British arrest warranted on them. Also, there was a great reward offered to anyone who was able to capture a patriot. Because of forewarning by Paul Revere throughout the night, the Minutemen were ready and waiting at Lexington green, arms in hand when the British arrived. Without orders, a random shot was fired from an unknown British soilder and a stand-off broke out. The British began to retreat into Concord after seeing that the Minutemen had disbanded.=====

Later on, while in Concord, a small group of Minutemen fought some of the British. The British commander saw that the group of Minutemen were growing larger from nearby cities. Thus, the British Bluecoats decided to retreat back toward Lexington. During the retreat, the Minutemen harassed the British by firing at them from behind every obstacle that they could find. When the British finally made it back to Lexington, they were joined by a support team and combined forces with them. By the end of the battle, and the day, British casualties were at a high 273, while the Minutemen were at a low 94. Eighteen of the Minutemen casualties were during the initial fight. The end of that very day was considered the start of the American Revolution. Many citizens took it as a social event. The colonsits were overjoyed about the battle, however the British thought of it as a nightmare. If the Battle of Lexington and Concord had not taken place, there would have been no Revolutionary War. The United States of America would not have its name. Instead, we would still be the thirteen colonies, no California, no Kentucky nor any state west of the Appalachian Mountains. We would still be paying taxes under the rule of Great Britain, and we most certaintly wouldn't be a free nation.



**Sourcing and Contextualizing of the picture to the right:**
Pratt, Mara L. //American's Story for America's Children: The Early Colonies//. Boston: D.C. Heath & Company, 1901.

Pratt wrote a book on the American Revolution for children. This picture was made about 120 years after the battle happened. In this picture, the Minutemen are firing upon the British Bluecoats while the British are retreating. During researching the topic, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, we learned that the British was searching for ammo and weapons. Then the Minutemen were ready in a minute and were ready to fight. This relates to this picture because in the picture the Minutemen are firing upon the highly organized British.

**Citing:**
//New York, New York Scholastic Inc 2007//
 * "Paul M. Bessel's Homepage." //Paul M. Bessel's Homepage//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. .
 * Karen J., Hatzigeorgiou. "U.S. History Images." //U.S. History Images//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. .
 * Unknown. "British Battles - analysing and documenting British Battles from the previous centuries." //British Battles - analysing and documenting British Battles from the previous//
 * //centuries//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. [].
 * //The Battles of Lexington and Concord by Heidi Kimmil//

This information is provided to you by: Kira Cross and Shane Connor.