Paul Revere was a silversmith in the time of the American Revolution, and is well remembered for his patriotic actions and involvement in the American Revolution.
1. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Probably what most people know him for, the famous “Midnight Ride” of Paul Revere, occurred on the night of April 18 or early morning of April 19, 1775. Revere, along with two other messengers were sent to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the movements of the British Army. Revere set out to accomplish his task, and along the way he risked himself by warning other patriots, and encouraging them to spread the message that the British were coming. Several of those Revere warned also rode on horseback to deliver warnings of their own. This meant that during the night nearly 40 riders were spreading the message of the movement of the British army, and preparing the patriots to fight. The reason this midnight ride is so well remembered is because of the magnitude of the message, and the results of it being delivered properly.
2. Battles of Lexington and Concord
One of the reasons Paul Revere is famous today is because of his role as a messenger, not just the night of the midnight ride, but also during The Battles of Lexington and Concord. He played an important role as he helped to organize an intelligence and alarm system that was designed to keep watch over the British forces and warn Americans of threats so that they could be prepared.
Besides being a wonderful messenger, Paul Revere was also a very influential and wealthy man of his time due to his craftsmanship. He was well respected as a talented man in his trade, and was commissioned to engrave plaques and signs for some very important historical sites including one for the Boston Massacre.
When the war was over, Revere did not just fall off the face of the historical significance map. In fact, his skill as a craftsman helped him to recognize the potential that existed for manufacturing metal on a large scale, and he became instrumental in the forward movement of manufacturing rather than just cottage industry production.
5. War experience
Paul Revere played a key role in the Revolutionary War, and was able to be such a key figure, and forward thinker about alarms, etc, because the Revolutionary War was not Revere’s first experience with war. Although only briefly, Paul Revere fought during the Seven Years War and served as a lieutenant in an artillery regiment at the time.
6. Sons of Liberty
Revere was involved in the early political circles of America. Because of his wealth and prominence, Revere got to know a great number of political figures, and he was commissioned to create a number of political engravings. Part of this involvement lead to his involvement with Sons of Liberty, a historically significant group that helped free American fro British grasp.
7. Committee of Public Safety
Following the Boston Tea Party, Revere started working for the Committee of Public Safety. His role was to deliver messages about the political unrest that was occurring in the city of New York to Philadelphia. Again, a large contributor to American liberty.
8. The Hero
One of the reasons Revere is so well known is because his story became almost mythical in power. The fact is there is little evidence to show that Revere yelled out the words, “The British are coming,” in fact most historians would argue that he likely did not, and instead delivered the messages in secret due to the fact that at the time there were British loyalist all throughout the countryside, and he would have been in grave danger. Thus, his most famous act was probably not as heroic as it has been made out to be, nor as historically significant as much of his other contributions to the revolution. However, it is often the tales of heroics that make people famous rather than the actual acts.
9. Revere’s run in with the British
Whether or not his ride was significant or not, Revere was a key part of the revolution, and was after that famous night’s ride he was detained and questioned by British loyalists and taken at gunpoint by British officers toward Lexington. He never got that far as the officers were distracted by gun fire, and he was able to escape on foot. His work during the Revolution put his life at risk many times, making his sacrifice and actions more notable.
The fact is, Revere was a contributor to the Revolution just like many others. Why we remember him, is that over forty years after his death Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a well known poet, wrote about his ride.