On this day in 1775, the first shots of the War of Independence were fired, but the war was won years before then, in the hearts and minds of American colonists. Paul Revere's Ride is not the story of one man on horseback shouting "the Redcoats are coming." It is rather the story of a whole community of proud and loyal citizens that was prepared to pull together in the face of crisis and rise in mutual defense of their God-given liberty.
By midnight, Paul Revere had alerted the village of Lexington and the message went on from there: the anticipated mission by the king's troops to deprive them of their guns and natural rights was afoot. Not long after, the militiamen were gathered at the tavern, ready for a fight.
There had been many false alarms in the prior weeks, many times the people had mustered and then dispersed. But they remained vigilant, ready and eager to respond to the call because they knew the cost of complacency.
The legacy of the colonial militias lives on in America's citizen solders, who take seriously our oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and will not trample, but defend the people's rights. It also lives on in the social networks of watchdogs who, like the Committees of Observation, organized to keep a close watch on the government and pass the word.
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