Patriot's
Day Origin, History & Facts
Patriot's Day (Holiday Origins): Origins of the holiday with related
links.
Patriot's Day (Sunnie Bunnie): Patriot's Day facts and information -
including games, poetry & puzzles.
Patriot's Day (NOBLE): Information and links on Patriot's Day in
Massachusetts and Main.
Patriot's Day (Neighborhoods.net): Information and many related
links about Patriot's day and its origins.
Patriot’s Day (Wikipedia.org): Information about the holiday.
Patriot's Day in Boston (About.com): Information and links on the
Patriot's Day festivities.
Paul Revere
[Note: The
original purpose of Paul Revere’s ride was not to warn colonists that
the “British were coming!” but more specifically to warn Hancock and
Adams. [Note: He probably cried out “The Regulars are coming!” since
they thought of themselves as still being British at that time.] After
that task was done, he and William Dawes (who has been pushed aside by
history) who was also sent to Hancock and Adams for the same purpose, on
their own accord rode around the countryside warning its inhabitants of
the coming British army.] Along the way, Dr. Samuel Prescott also joined
in giving the alarm. Their effort was a success and 500 colonists
confronted the British on their way back to Boston.
Paul Revere (Early America.com): A Flash presentation on the life
and accomplishments of Paul Revere.
Paul Revere Virtual Museum (CVESD.K12.ca.us): A virtual teaching
tool on Paul Revere and his famous ride.
Paul Revere House (PaulRevereHouse.org): Tourist information and
times about the house Paul Revere lived in – with information about the
life and times of Revere.
Revere Speaks (American Revolution.com): His story in his own words.
Boston
City of Boston (offical site): Information on the City of Boston.
Boston.com (Boston.com): 24 hour news coverage of everything that is
going on in the city of Boston.
BostonUSA! (BostonUSA.com): Official website of Greater Boston
Convention & Visitor’s Bureau with great information for tourists and
visitors of the city.
Minute Men
Early America’s Minute-Men (EarlyAmerica.com): Information on the
men who were the first to defend this country’s honor.
Minute Man Park (NPS.gov): Information and time schedule for Minute
Man Park in Massachusetts, where the “shot heard round the world” was
fired to begin the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Who Were the Minutemen? (USHistory.org): An essay on the minute men
and how they came about. |
Patriot’s Day
Events
Battle Road (Battleroad.org): Information on Patriots day events and
reenactments.
Boston, MA Events (About.com): An annual calendar of events in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Patriot’s Day Battle Reenactment Schedule (BostonCentral.com):
Complete schedule of the reenactments in and around Boston.
Patriot’s Day Celebration (Spokane7.com): Presented
by the Esther Reed Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the
American Revolution. The program will include a proclamation from the
mayor's office and will celebrate the contributions of early patriots.
Patriot’s Day Celebrations (ISTC.org): A listing of Patriot’s Day
events and info on student travel information and discounts.
Patriot’s Day Events (NationalLancers.com): Information on
reenactments and some history about Paul Revere’s ride.
Patriot’s Day Parade (town.Arlington.ma.us): Information about the
Patriot’s Day Parade in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Patriot’s Day Activities
How to Celebrate Patriots’ Day (Ehow.com): A list of ideas on how to
celebrate Patriot’s Day.
Patriot’s Day Ribbon Stick Craft (FamiliesOnlineMagazine.com):
Activities for kids on Patriot’s Day.
Multimedia
123Greetings.com (123Greetings.com): Free Patriot’s Day Ecards.
Battles of
Lexington and Concord
Battle of Lexington & Concord Abstract (WPI): Information on the
events that are commemorated by Patriot's Day.
The Battle of Lexington & Concord (ThinkQuest.org):
Information and facts about these two revolutionary battles, including
maps of each battle.
Lexington and Concord (ThePatriotResource.com): In depth information
on the two battles and the events surrounding the events.
The Old North
Church
Christ Church in the City of Boston (OldNorth.com): Tourist
information about the Church (The Olde North Church) that the candles
were lit to begin Paul Revere’s ride. “One if by Land, Two if by Sea.”
Boston
Marathon
Boston Athletic Association (BAA.org): Official website of the
Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is one of the annual events that
takes place on Patriot’s Day weekend.
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Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."
Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.
A
hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.
You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere. |
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.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
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