![]() ![]() “And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm …“ It didn’t take long for Longfellow to stray from the truth. Longfellow, an ardent abolitionist, designed the poem to stir up patriotic fervor, not to record history. He wrote it just before the start of the Civil War. And it is true that he did participate in part of the ride that night to warn of British movements.īut beyond that, the majority of Longfellow’s poem amounts to fictional propaganda. Paul Revere did play a part in these events, and he did arrange for the famous signal from the steeple of Christ Church (Old North Church) – one if by land and two if by sea. ![]() The most critical part of the preparation was prior warning. The colonist had prepared for just such an eventuality. The possibility of a confrontation between British forces and colonists had been brewing for months. While the events described in the poem all took place on the night of April 18, 1775, they were set in motion long before that. Just as Hollywood creates heroes, Longfellow created a heroic persona for Revere far beyond what he actually did. When he died in 1818, his obituary made no mention of the “famous” ride. He was locally well-known as an artisan and entrepreneur. ![]() In fact, until Longfellow wrote the poem, Revere, was known for his metalwork but not for Revolutionary War heroics anywhere in New England, let alone the rest of the country. Paul Revere holds his then-claim to fame. ![]()
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