Teach Your Children About This Day In History

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,Here once the embattled farmers stood,And fired the shot heard round the world.The foe long since in silence slept;Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;And Time the ruined bridge has sweptDown the dark stream which seaward creeps.On this green bank, by this soft stream,We set to-day a votive stone;That memory may their deed redeem,When, like our sires, our sons are gone.Spirit, that made those heroes dareTo die, and leave their children free,Bid Time and Nature gently spareThe shaft we raise to them and thee.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Today marks the 239th anniversary of what I believe to be the most important day in American history.  The start of the American Revolution on Lexington Green.  On April 19, 1775, "The Shot Hear 'Round The World" rang out and started this country on the road to freedom from tyranny.

From Constitutionfacts.com -

The clash began on April 19, 1775 when more about 700 British soldiers were given what they thought were secret orders to destroy colonial military supplies in Concord, Massachusetts. Fortunately, thanks to a rather elaborate colonial intelligence network, led by the Sons of Liberty, the Patriots were aware that their supplies were at risk, and were able to move them to different locations long before the British began to move. Also, thanks to the daring rides of a few brave men, the colonial militia knew that an engagement with the British Army was imminent.

The first shots were fired just after dawn in Lexington, Massachusetts the morning of the 19th, the "Shot Heard Round the World." The colonial militia, a band of 500 men, were outnumbered and initially forced to retreat. The British army was able to press forward to Concord, where they searched for the supplies, only to come up empty handed.

While the British were searching, the American militia was able to reform, and they met the enemy at the North Bridge in Concord, and they were successful this time in driving the British back. As more American reinforcements arrived, they forced the British army south to Boston, and the militias blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

The final straw for the Americans was the attempt by the British to control access to weapons.  Let that sink in:  The war started over gun control.

Repressive taxation had started the whole mess, and gun control lit the fuse, so to speak.  Sound familiar?  Without access to those guns, we would be drinking tea with breakfast, lunch and dinner, and eating Spotted Dick for dessert.

So, the next time some gun-grabbing son-of-a-bitch tells you that only government needs to have guns, tell them that King George wholeheartedly agreed.

Thankfully, the colonists did not.


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