Lexington and Concord: The Shot Heard ‘Round the World | 5-Minute Videos

It was the “shot heard round the world”, the spark that officially set off the American War for Independence. But on that cold morning, neither the colonial militia nor their redcoat opponents were looking for a fight. So how exactly did an unplanned confrontation become the opening volley of the Revolution? Robert Orrison, author of A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord, explains.

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Transcript:
Lexington and Concord: The Shot Heard ‘Round The World
Presented by Robert Orrison

Of all the battles of the Revolutionary War, the very first one—Lexington and Concord—is probably the most famous. It’s where we get the idea of the Minuteman (ready for action at a moment’s notice), Paul Revere’s midnight ride (“the British are coming”), and the “shot heard round the world” (the first musket fire that ignited the War of Independence).

Despite its renown, it’s also, ironically, the least typical.

First, George Washington was not involved. He had yet to be named commander of the Continental Army.

Second, all the other major battles were fought in a conventional, late-18th-century European way: two forces confronting each other at a specific battlefield location.

Third, nobody planned a battle at Lexington and Concord. It’s only by looking back that it seems inevitable.

By April 1775, tensions between the British and the Americans had reached a boiling point. From the colonists’ perspective, the British were making their lives intolerable. A year earlier — to reassert its control over the colonies — Parliament had passed the so-called Coercive Acts: closing Boston Harbor in the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, ending self-rule in the Massachusetts colony, and forcing Americans to house the king’s troops.

From London’s perspective, the colonials were flirting with treason. Not only did they refuse to accept the new laws; they violently resisted them.

British general, Thomas Gage, knew he was sitting on a powder keg. He ordered his troops not to provoke the locals. One false move could set the continent ablaze.

So, why were the British in Lexington in the first place?

Gage had information that the rebels were storing arms in Concord and sent a detachment to confiscate them. By this point, the Americans, with their surprisingly sophisticated spy network, knew almost every move Gage was going to make before he made it.

Here’s where Paul Revere comes in. Along with fellow patriot William Dawes, Revere set off on the night of April 18 to warn of the impending raid.

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