On April 18, 1775, the air in colonial Massachusetts crackled with a tension that would soon erupt into the fight for American liberty. As British Regulars made their moves, urgent warnings raced through the night, carried by brave riders like Paul Revere and William Dawes. This pivotal moment, often called the dawn of the American Revolution, saw ordinary people rise up, making choices that would forever shape our nation’s story. Tune in as Our American Stories transports you to this incredible evening, where the seeds of freedom were sown.
But this isn’t just the tale of famous men; it’s a vivid account told from the unique perspective of a young woman, experiencing the American Revolution as it began. You’ll hear how figures like Samuel Adams and John Hancock stood firm, how women like Dolly Quincy bravely protected what mattered most, and how a child faced the terror of an approaching empire. This inspiring narrative, brought to us by Constituting America, reveals the hidden acts of courage and the defiant spirit that led to the first shots of liberty, proving that our shared story is built on the actions of every American.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people, coming to you from where the West begins in Fort Worth, Texas. Up next, the story from a young woman on the first day of the American Revolution, courtesy of Constituting America, an organization dedicated to educating, empowering, and inspiring young people across America on our founding documents. Go to Constituting America dot org to find out more. Let’s get into the story.
00:00:41
Speaker 2: Hi, I’m Sabruna band Charia, and I’m a fifteen-year-old on a mission to bring the American Revolution back to life. Today, we need to go back two hundred and fifty years ago, on April eighteenth, seventeen seventy-five, to Boston, Massachusetts, more specifically, to the house of Doctor Joseph Warren around eight p.m. Doctor Warren was a well-known colonist. He was an important figure in seventeen-seventies Boston and charged with revolutionary spirit. Doctor Warren got worried that the Regulars (what the colonists called the British forces representing the Crown) were coming to seize his arms in Concord and capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two important rebel leaders who were staying in Lexington for the Provincial Congress. He sends express riders Paul Revere and William Dawes to alert Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were staying with their family, Reverend Jonas Clark, Lexington’s minister, and his wife, John Hancock’s cousin, Lucy Bowes Clark. It’s about now when Joseph Warren goes into the Old North Church to send out the signal. If the Regulars were coming by land, one lantern. If they were coming by sea, there would be two. This is where we get the famous phrase, “One if by land, two if by sea.” The lanterns hung in the steeple would only be shown for a couple of minutes, but this was the signal the entire city could see. The Regulars had decided to come by sea to get to Lexington. And you’re probably wondering why I’m calling them the Regulars. It’s because in seventeen seventy-five everyone was British, and that just would have caused confusion. “What do you mean, ‘We’re coming?'” Paul Revere actually never said that. He most likely either said, “The lobster backs are out,” “The Regulars are out,” or “The Redcoats are coming.” Paul Revere goes through Charlestown, up and around through Mystic, and gets to the Hancock-Clark house. About thirty minutes later, Revere is met with Sergeant Monroe from the Lexington Militia. He tells them, “Keep it down. Family is retired and would not like to be disturbed by the noise.” “Noise? You’ll have noise enough before long! The Regulars are out!” Revere says, yelling from the rooftops. John Hancock hears and invites him inside to chat. A few moments later, Dawes joins. Both talk about the information that Doctor Warren sent to these important men. But this kept twelve-year-old Elizabeth Clark up. She was worried what was going to happen to her family because the Regulars were coming for them. She told all of her siblings to be quiet and to go to bed, and lay in her bed and listened to the conversation with the men going on downstairs, which was extremely important. Her mother bursts in, telling her, “Elizabeth, you must help Miss Dolly Quincy hide her valuables! They’re coming to loot our house!” She and Dolly Quincy Hancock, John Hancock’s fiancée at the time, hid things under leaves, potatoes, and anything else they could find. Afterwards, Elizabeth went back upstairs to bed, but something still wasn’t quite right with her. Dolly needs to go get her father from Boston, and she’s very worried about it. “‘Nonsense! It’s the middle of the night, and there are soldiers coming for me! Ridiculous to even bring up,’ says John Hancock. Dolly replies, ‘Recollect, Mr. Hancock, I am not under your control yet! I will get my father and rescue him from Boston,’ she says. To the richest man in Massachusetts. She was probably one of the only people who could say this. Hancock and Adams are packing up their belongings. “‘It’s not right for me to leave them; dear men are my friends,’ Hancock says to Adams. ‘That’s foolish! You don’t even have your musket! What use for you?'” Adams responded, and Adams eventually reasoned with Hancock and decided it was the right thing to leave, and he was putting the family and the town in more danger by staying. “‘On one condition!'” Hancock says, “You bring the salmon we had for dinner.” Yes, this is something Hancock actually said. He was hyper-fixated on their fabulous feasts they had earlier. That was enough to get him to leave. The belfry in the center of town started to ring. It was the alarm for the Lexington Militia to assemble on the green at Buckman Tavern. There were about eighty Patriots, but about seven hundred Regulars coming towards Lexington. No wonder Paul Revere had to ride out. We were greatly outnumbered. Two men carried a trunk with John Hancock’s important documents. To this day, we don’t know what was inside, but the trunk still exists and is at the Blister Historical Museum, and all we know is that in the wrong hands, John Hancock would be a dead man. The Regulars were actually headed towards Concord and were only stopping in Lexington to capture these two rebel leaders. So when they saw the men assembled on the green, they assembled. Both sides were told not to fire. Captain John Parker, the captain of the Lexington Militia, told his men to stand their ground: “Don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!” With the sun barely being up at five in the morning, someone fired. We don’t know who, but there are many theories which will never be able to be proven, just because we don’t have that information. This was the first shot of American liberty. This was the start of the American Revolution. The Regulars went on the rest of the day to have a similar event in Concord, but instead their leader says, “For God’s sake, fire!” The colonists chased them all the way back to Boston the same way they came. This was the first day of the American Revolution. It left a profound impact on American history and the history of the world.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: And a special thanks to Sabrina Baticharia, whose website is Lexington 2.50. And nothing brings us more joy than young people falling in love with their country. A special thanks also to Constituting America for turning us on to this story. Go to Constituting America dot org to find out more about their great work: the story of the First Day of the Revolution. Here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we bring you stories of America, stories of us. And it’s because of listeners like you that we’re able to tell the story of this great and beautiful country every day. Our stories will always be free to listen to, but they’re not free to make. If you love what you hear, consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Visit Our American Stories dot com to give. Give a little, give a lot. Any amount helps. Go to OurAmericanStories dot com.
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