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7 Sep 2022

According to the text, how did British Soldiers approach Concord?

A. From the Charles River

B. From Boston Harbor

C. From the town of Lexington

D. From the city of Boston

 

The Lanterns in the Old North Church

Glenn Trevor

Chapter Two: Lanterns of North Church

On April 18, 1775, the Sons of Liberty (the group of patriots behind the famous Boston Tea Party) were able to find out how the British planned to attack. They also learned that the British intended to stop in the city of Lexington and arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock on their march to Concord. Paul Revere (a silversmith who was a member of the Sons of Liberty) and two other riders (William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott) were appointed to ride and warn the patriots in Concord of how the British planned to attack. Revere was also told to stop at Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Because Revere was concerned that he and the other riders might be caught or stopped from delivering the message, he also secretly arranged with the sexton of Old North Church to hang lanterns as a signal to tell patriots across the river what the British intended to do.

 

As Revere was quietly rowed across the Charles River to where a horse awaited him on the other side, the church sexton Robert Newman and the vestryman Capt. John Pulling Jr. climbed into the steeple of the Old North Church and held two lanterns high while another patriot, Thomas Bernard, kept watch outstide.

 

Little did these men know that they were enacting the immortal line now known by school-children across America "One if by land, two if by sea." The two lanterns meant that the British were coming by sea across the Charles River. The lanterns were reported to have been shown for only a very short time (a little under a minute) for fear that the British troops would also see the signal.