Other colonies to help Boston Minute men Soon Paul Revere came riding into Philadelphia with the news that the patriots of Boston were in danger of PAUL REVERE ALARMING THE MINUTEMEN The old Hancock House, where, guarded by the minutemen, being attacked by the British. The Congress immediately declared that if the British made war on Boston, it was the duty of every colony to help her people fight. It now looked as if war might come at any moment. When Con gress was over, Samuel Adams hastened home to help form, in all the Massachusetts towns, companies of minutemen ready to fight at a moment's warning. The next spring the news got out that British soldiers were going to Concord to destroy the powder and provisions collected there by the minutemen, and also to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock and send them to England to be tried for treason. Paul Revere agreed to alarm the minutemen the moment the soldiers left Boston. 89. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride. Standing by his horse across the river from Boston, one April evening, waiting for signals, Paul Revere saw two lanterns flash their light from the tower of the Old North Church. He mounted and rode in hot haste toward Lexington, the arousing the sleeping villages as he cried out: "Up and arm, the regulars are coming!" Soon he heard the Alarming alarm gun of the minutemen and the excited ringing of minutethe church bells. He knew the country was rising. men At Lexington minutemen who guarded. the house where Samuel Adams and John Hancock were sleeping ordered Revere not to make so much noise. "You will soon have noise enough," he shouted. "The regulars are coming!" And he rode on toward Concord. minute men 90. The Battle at Lexington and at Concord Bridge. As the British soldiers reached Lexington at sunrise, The first April 19, 1775; the captain of the minutemen gave the conflict command: "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired of the upon. But if they mean to have war, let it begin here!" A bold speech for a captain of only about sixty men when facing as brave soldiers as Europe had ever seen! The minutemen stood their ground till seven were killed and nine wounded-nearly one third of their number. Then they retreated. The British pushed on to Concord. But the minutemen, now coming from every direction, made a stand at Concord Bridge. Their musket fire was so deadly that the British started back, running at times to escape with The their lives. At Lexington they fell upon the ground, retreat tired out with the chase the minutemen gave them, and of the were met by fresh troops from Boston. British Soon the British soldiers were forced to run again, for minutemen by hundreds were gathering, and they seldom missed their aim. From behind rocks, trees, fences, and houses they cut down the tired redcoats. Nearly three hundred British soldiers were killed or redcoats wounded before Boston was reached that night. Many fall Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 91. The Battle of Bunker Hill. Day and night for weeks minutemen from other New England colonies, and even from as far south as Virginia, marched in hot haste to Boston. The British general soon found his army in Boston entirely cut off from the mainland. He resolved to fortify Bunker Hill, but what was his surprise to wake one morning (June 17) and find the Americans under Colonel Prescott already building breastworks on the hill. That afternoon three thousand picked troops, in solid columns and with bayonets gleaming, marched up the hill to storm that breastwork. "Don't fire till you can see the whites of their eyes!" said the commander of the minutemen. On came the lines of red, with banners flying and drums beating. From the breastworks there ran a flame of fire which mowed the redcoats down like They Three grass. They reeled, broke, and ran. They rested. Again they charged; again they broke and ran. were brave men, and, although hundreds of their com- fierce panions had fallen, a third time the British charged, and charges won, for the Americans had used up their powder, and they had no bayonets. More than one thousand British soldiers fell that day. The Americans did not lose half that number. But among the killed was brave General Joseph Warren. and Han cock on 92. The Second Continental Congress. Just as the British were marching into Lexington on that famous Adams April morning, Samuel Adams, with John Hancock, was leaving for Philadelphia, where Congress was to meet the way again. As he heard the guns of the minutemen answer to the the guns of the regulars, Adams said to Hancock: "What second Congress a glorious morning is this!" The members from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York were escorted across the Hudson to Newark, New Jersey, and entertained at a great dinner, with speeches. Near Philadelphia a large procession of armed men and carriages met and escorted them into the city, where bells told of their coming. When this Congress met, Samuel Adams seconded the motion of his cousin, John Adams, that George Washington, of Virginia, be made the general of all the American troops. He saw his own neighbor, John Hancock, made president of the Congress. Samuel the first 93. The Declaration of Independence. For more Adams than a year Samuel Adams worked hard to get the among Congress to make a Declaration of Independence. to favor Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced a motion indeinto the Congress for independence. The Declaration pendence Governor of Massachusetts was made, July 4, 1776, and Samuel Adams, as a great leader of the Revolution, had done his work. AN OLD QUILL But, with other noble men, he still labored with all his powers, in Congress and at home, to help America win her independence. After independence had been won, Samuel Adams still served his state, and was elected governor of Massachusetts only a few years before his death, which occurred in 1803, at the age of eighty-one. 2. SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP The Leading Facts. I. The French and Indian War put both England and her colonies in debt, but the king thought only of England's debt. Great opposition to the Stamp Act in all the colonies. 3. Patrick Henry made a great speech against the Virginia parsons, and a second on the Stamp Act. 4. He went to the first Continental Congress and made many friends; came home and made a great speech saying that war would come. 5. Made governor of Virginia many times. 6. Samuel Adams studied hard, failed in several occupations, and went into politics. 7. Led the patriots against the soldiers, the Stamp Act, and planned the Tea Party. 8. Samuel Adams sent to Continental Congress, where he made many friends. 9. Urged a Declaration of Independence in 1776. 10. Made governor of Massachusetts. Study Questions. 1. Why were the colonists happy because England defeated France? 2. What was the Stamp Act, and why did men in America oppose this act? 3. What did Patrick Henry say in his resolution and in his speech? 4. Picture the scene while Patrick Henry spoke and afterwards. 5. Why did not the Americans like the Tea Tax? 6. Why did not the king like the American "Tea Parties"? 7. What is a Congress; and why should Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams become good friends? 8. Commit to memory a part of Henry's famous "liberty or death" speech. 9. How did |