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April 19, 2014

The Shot Heard Round the World: April 19, 1775 [Y-not]
— Open Blogger

Today is also the anniversary of a transformative event in our history, the Battle of Lexington. From the Wall Street Journal:

April 19, 1775, was a quiet day in America's Thirteen ColoniesÂ—except for a deadly encounter in Lexington, Mass., between about 80 militiamen and 700 British regulars. Neither side had been expecting a fight, and no one knows who really fired the first shot. But accident or no, it set off one of the greatest social and political experiments in history.
The Battle of Lexington was also the inspiration behind one of America's best-known poems, the "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Even those unfamiliar with the poem will recognize the line: "Here once the embattled farmers stood/ And fired the shot heard round the world."

And here's a link to Emerson's famous poem.

How many of you were required to memorize it in school? I don't think I was. Our American history classes focussed on slavery and the Civil War more than on the Revolutionary War. (Pretty sure Mr Moxie's school (in New England) emphasized the latter more than the former.)

Open thread to discuss politics and such.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:26 PM | Comments (60)
Post contains 207 words, total size 1 kb.

1 With a pure heart and clean hands.

Posted by: DM at April 19, 2014 01:39 PM (Ztudx)

2 And work on custody of the eyes so as to keep ones mind with the Lord and out of the gutter.

Posted by: DM at April 19, 2014 01:42 PM (Ztudx)

3 Thers plenty more where that came from, newsletters notwithstanding.

Posted by: DM at April 19, 2014 01:43 PM (Ztudx)

4 Ironic you should put that up today. This was my first "news" post today.

Good Morning Morons. Today is Saturday, April 19, 2014. On this day in 1775 the battle of Lexington and Concord occurred in the American Revolutionary war. It was hailed as the start of the war and made famous in a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson as the "shot heard 'round the world". In actuality shots were fired before this battle and, like most wars, it is difficult to pinpoint a single day, event, or battle as the start of the war. But after centuries of school children reading the poem aloud and crying out that phrase it has become the popular myth. In another 100 years the phrase will probably disappear because the amount of coverage the early patriot events get in history books is shrinking to minuscule paragraphs.

Perhaps stuff like the Schoolhouse Rock thing will still be around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZMmPWTwTHc

Posted by: Vic[/i] at April 19, 2014 01:44 PM (T2V/1)

5 Thanks, Horde.

Posted by: DM at April 19, 2014 01:44 PM (Ztudx)

6 Those colonists were domestic terrorists.

Posted by: Harry Reid at April 19, 2014 01:48 PM (oJUxt)

7 Taking my son on an overnight camping trip on the USS Lexington.

Posted by: lindafell at April 19, 2014 01:49 PM (PGO8C)

8 One of the things about living the mid-Atlantic area is that we forget about how much history is around us: #1 Civil War; and #2 Revolutionary War.

Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 01:49 PM (7yt0b)

9 Love means never having to say, "I've got a green card."

Posted by: Jeb Bush at April 19, 2014 01:50 PM (Mogjf)

10 Dick Blumenthal on train safety. http://tinyurl.com/lc2z69u P.S. Just be glad it wasn't Joey Choo-Choo.

Posted by: WalrusRex at April 19, 2014 01:53 PM (Mogjf)

11 OT, but holy crap, the St. Louis Blues tie it with .06 left in the game!!!

Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 01:55 PM (7yt0b)

12 Ahhh, Schoolhouse Rock. Can you imagine a network broadcasting the line "Take your powder, take your gun, report to General Washington" these days?

Posted by: PabloD at April 19, 2014 01:56 PM (o86uV)

13 12 Ahhh, Schoolhouse Rock. Can you imagine a network broadcasting the line "Take your powder, take your gun, report to General Washington" these days?

Posted by: PabloD at April 19, 2014 05:56 PM (o86uV)

Instant molecular death as we used to say about someone trying to steal a spent fuel element.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at April 19, 2014 02:00 PM (T2V/1)

14 Nutty Tea Baggers. Later, all. God bless. :-)

Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at April 19, 2014 02:00 PM (9W+0f)

15 At Lexington, both sides pulled back. It would still have been possible to avoid war, have an investigation, go on the way it had been. At Concord, colonial militia were ordered to fire on British regulars. There was no going back from that. The two British soldiers killed there are buried along the road by the foot of the bridge. The graves are marked and tended.

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 02:01 PM (OsheA)

16 15 Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 06:01 PM (OsheA)

As I said in my post shot had already been fired before this battle. The Brits fired on and killed locals.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at April 19, 2014 02:03 PM (T2V/1)

17 I thought this was kind of fun. Average college professor got 55%. I got 100%. http://tinyurl.com/4kjvuhj

Posted by: WalrusRex at April 19, 2014 02:06 PM (Mogjf)

18 The Brits had done that before, Boston Massacre. Lexington could have been resolved the same way. But colonists opening fire on orders, no way to paper over that.

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 02:08 PM (OsheA)

19 "Massachusetts was declared to be in a state of rebellion" [source: the wiki] So, really, the war had already started, they just had not gotten to the shooting part yet. The British troops were being sent in to dissolve the rebel government and seize rebel military supplies. Kinda like why we have the 2nd amendment.

Posted by: Smith at April 19, 2014 02:09 PM (i2P0B)

20 The Boston Massacre wasn't a battle or a war yet. It was half a dozen or so drunken instigators deliberately provoking British soldiers.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at April 19, 2014 02:12 PM (T2V/1)

21 It isn't fashionable to write patriotic poetry nowadays. Rap isn't poetry? Isn't patriotic? It does inspire the troops, does it not?

Posted by: Smith at April 19, 2014 02:14 PM (i2P0B)

22 But, as I said, there were many actions leading up to this one. So where do you pin-point the actual start?

Posted by: Vic[/i] at April 19, 2014 02:14 PM (T2V/1)

23 April 19, 1943 was the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 19, 2014 02:15 PM (JgpFm)

24 Any wolverines in Colonial Lexington or Concord?

Posted by: Count de Monet at April 19, 2014 02:30 PM (BAS5M)

25 Fat Fraidycat cries "Peace! Peace!"

Posted by: Stringer Davis at April 19, 2014 02:32 PM (xq1UY)

26 April 19, 1943 was the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. *** April 19, 1995 OKC bombing

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 19, 2014 02:35 PM (DmNpO)

27 Wah? you talking about, Stringer? I'm just saying up until Concord, the Brits held most of the cards. Once the colonists went on offence at Concord, there was no going back. The other militias from around the colonies showed up and from then events got out of anyone's hands.

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 02:42 PM (OsheA)

28 Still miss him since I had to put him down two weeks ago after almost 16 years of being my nap buddy. Posted by: Burn the Witch at April 19, 2014 06:44 PM (HLprW)

{{{}}}

Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 02:46 PM (7yt0b)

29 26 April 19, 1943 was the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. *** April 19, 1995 OKC bombing And the battle of Lexington. Guess which one NPR is covering breathlessly? Seriously, why do ALL NPR commentators whisper?

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at April 19, 2014 02:46 PM (5buP8)

30 Posted in the wrong thread. Sorry!

Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 02:47 PM (7yt0b)

31 Lordy Mercy I have some politically ignorant "friends" on YourFace. One thinks the gubmint is the good guy in the Bundy Ranch confrontation. What a maroon...

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit [/i][/s][/b][/u] at April 19, 2014 02:50 PM (0HooB)

32 Vic, since nobody knows who fired the first shot at Lex., thouggh probably Paul Revere, it could have been treated like massacre. But ordering the firing on regulars, with all the militias arriving, there was no way to put the genie back in the bottle.

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 02:55 PM (OsheA)

33 So a pack of teabagging gunglinging domestic terrorists transgress settled law and assert rights not granted to them by the state, and we're supposed to treat this like it was a good thing?

Posted by: Richard McEnroes at April 19, 2014 02:55 PM (oS+pu)

34 Sen. Reid. King George lll is on the phone. He'd like to have a word with you".

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 02:58 PM (OsheA)

35 How many proggies were hoping shooting would start during the Bundy standoff, to provide an excuse for whatever?

Posted by: davidt at April 19, 2014 02:58 PM (nEIMV)

36 Â“RAPE CULTUREÂ” IN THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE: A painting of President Barack Obama by a shock artist with a rape fetish hung in the White House for at least two years. But the Churchill bust was sent packing. Instapundit.

Posted by: Behind Enemy Lines at April 19, 2014 03:00 PM (thLL8)

37 Domestic terrorism and insurrection against the government is not something to be celebrated, you violent wingnuts.

Posted by: Mary Cloggenstein from Brattleboro, Vermont at April 19, 2014 03:09 PM (Pb41/)

38 Re-qualified for certification in first aid / CPR / AED this morning into the afternoon, then joined my Scout troop to wind up a food drive and stopped by another Troop's flower sale to get some miniature daffodils for replanting in the front yard tomorrow. Great day, and I accomplished a lot...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/s] [/u] at April 19, 2014 03:10 PM (HsTG8)

39 Think Moochelle will cancel Topeka? It would have been nice if someone would have asked if the grads wanted her there. It's a conservative area and they don't want their grad ceremony politicize. Plus all the inconvenience of her big butt making an appearance. http://goo.gl/OWwqnB

Posted by: Chief Pug at April 19, 2014 03:12 PM (8c12T)

40
since nobody knows who fired the first shot at Lex., though probably Paul Revere

Revere was gone when the first shot was fired. He had gotten through Lexington and been captured about 3-4 miles down the road, but been released and had walked back to the Buckman tavern, where the Minutemen were mustered. And while he was there, John Hancock's secretary, whose name I forget, came back (Hancock had left for Woburn after Revere's warning that the regulars were out - capturing Hancock and Samuel Adams were secondary objectives of the King's regiments headed for Concord that day). Hancock had left a trunk with important papers at the tavern, and the secretary and Revere took it and headed for Woburn, just before the regulars came into view. If you go to the re-enactment tomorrow, one of the first bits of action is the trunk being carried out of the Buckman and across the green, shortly before the regulars arrive.

Posted by: Lyford at April 19, 2014 03:12 PM (C0fy8)

41 Yeah, important papers, that's the ticket.

Posted by: Gimp in the Trunk at April 19, 2014 03:15 PM (nEIMV)

42 Nood.

Posted by: Y-not at April 19, 2014 03:15 PM (zDsvJ)

43 8 One of the things about living the mid-Atlantic area is that we forget about how much history is around us: #1 Civil War; and #2 Revolutionary War. Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 05:49 PM (7yt0b) When we go winter camping here in the DE / MD / PA / NJ area, particularly in January, I am made aware of how difficult and strenuous it had to have been for the Continental Army troops during winter encampments in this area. It particular, the A&E production of "The Crossing" is very evocative for me. One of these years I am going to get up to Washington Crossing, PA on Christmas Day afternoon into evening to try to get a sense of how huge a gamble his crossing of the Delaware was.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/s] [/u] at April 19, 2014 03:17 PM (HsTG8)

44 I would like to see the re-enactment. But alas, I'm 3,000 miles away.

Posted by: Maj. Beauregard Pug, Continental Army at April 19, 2014 03:20 PM (8c12T)

45 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling StarsÂ™ at April 19, 2014 07:17 PM (HsTG

And so much of it is, "they hiked x number of miles".

Posted by: Vendette at April 19, 2014 03:21 PM (7yt0b)

46 22 But, as I said, there were many actions leading up to this one. So where do you pin-point the actual start? Posted by: Vic at April 19, 2014 06:14 PM (T2V/1) After Lexington and Concord, the colonial militiamen put the British in Boston under siege. I'd say that constitutes pretty fair evidence that L & C marked the start of open and extended hostilities.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/s] [/u] at April 19, 2014 03:23 PM (HsTG8)

47 I would like to see the re-enactment

They do a great job on it. They take it very seriously - there's a lot of information about who was where, who lived and who died, and they are careful to get it all right.

But you've got to get there at 4 AM or earlier to see much - the crowds are huge. I've got friends who are minutemen, so I've had the inside the ropes passes a couple of times, and it really is a treat.

Posted by: Lyford at April 19, 2014 03:24 PM (C0fy8)

48 How many proggies were hoping shooting would start during the Bundy standoff, to provide an excuse for whatever?

Posted by: davidt at April 19, 2014 06:58 PM (nEIMV)

I'll take "Every Fucking One of Them" for $1000.

Posted by: Country Singer at April 19, 2014 03:37 PM (vn9w4)

49 17 I thought this was kind of fun. Average college professor got 55%. I got 100%. http://tinyurl.com/4kjvuhj Posted by: WalrusRex at April 19, 2014 06:06 PM (Mogjf) Missed only one, and that was about Roe v Wade.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/s] [/u] at April 19, 2014 03:40 PM (HsTG8)

50 @23 April 19, 1943 was the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. ----- Recommend Andrzej Wajda's 1956 movie "Kanal", about the 1944 uprising. If you like that one, you will probably also like "Ashes and Diamonds", (195

; and "Katyn", (2007). If you don't know what happened at Katyn search for it. Wajda's father died there. His 1954 film. "A Generation", is also good, and is also about the uprising. In my opinion, Wajda is the greatest living movie director.

Posted by: jbarntt at April 19, 2014 04:45 PM (UNFot)

51 A very interesting book written by a Brit. Danial Hannan, "Inventing Freedom". It provides very different perspective of the "American Revolution" than I had ever read before. The "Revolution" wasn't an attempt to form a different political system than that in England. It was a desire for the colonies to be treated as equals with England and George III would not cooperate. He makes a lot of sense and if true it the root of our Constitution goes back to the 6th century. I guarantee you will look at our history and where we came from differently. This is my second read and my opinion is that there is no way there will be an accommodation with the Left (Progressives) without giving up Liberty. They are in a different universe than the Anglosphere.

Posted by: Blackstone at April 19, 2014 05:04 PM (vm0dY)

52 And while he was there, John Hancock's secretary, whose name I forget, came back
Elaine Benes, I think. He signed her ass, at least.

Posted by: [/i]andycanuck[/b] at April 19, 2014 05:32 PM (hn5v5)

53 Lyford, that would be something to see. Had two ancestors and dozens of cousins, along with some uncles who fought in the Revolution, on both sides. Have been to L and C, very impressive.

Posted by: Fat Freddy's Cat at April 19, 2014 05:39 PM (OsheA)

54 t Recommend Andrzej Wajda's 1956 movie "Kanal", about the 1944 uprising. If you like that one, you will probably also like "Ashes and Diamonds", (195; and "Katyn", (2007). If you don't know what happened at Katyn search for it. Wajda's father died there. His 1954 film. "A Generation", is also good, and is also about the uprising. In my opinion, Wajda is the greatest living movie director. Posted by: jbarntt at April 19, 2014 08:45 PM (UNFot) I've seen 3 of those movies but the firs two it's been a long time. I think Kanal is about the Warsaw Uprising that occurred in August 1944. The Soviets were just outside Warsaw so the Polish resistance believed it was time to revolt. Of course, the commies did not come to their aid.

Posted by: Maj. Beauregard Pug, Continental Army at April 19, 2014 05:53 PM (8c12T)

55 Hopefully I'm not too late for people to see this (long, busy day of RAR SAM SMASH), but Mike Duncan, of the excellent The History of Rome podcast, is doing a podcast called Revolutions. He's done the English Civil War and is now doing the American Revolution.

http://tinyurl.com/lhqrttf

Nice video up top about The Shot Heard 'Round the World.

I guess I'll post this on one of the pseudo-ONTs too why not.

Posted by: Sam Hill at April 19, 2014 08:59 PM (e15Qx)

56 P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

I keep telling myself that someday I'll get the Boston Globe to bite on this 'letter to the editor':

This Monday marks Patriots' Day, the annual celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. But have we really thought about what the holiday means?

Traditionally, it celebrates the stand of American Patriots against the British Regulars who were sent into the countryside to seize illegal "military supplies" (read: guns) held by a non-government 'militia'. Metaphorically, the Patriots were the Branch Davidians and the Regulars were the BATFE, and we know how to think about that.

So why are we celebrating the Patriots, who hated their government to the extent they were arming themselves against it? Given the sensibilities of modern Massachusetts, wouldn't it be more seemly to remember the government troops who lost their lives that day? Let's re-purpose Patriots' Day to memorialize the real heroes, the despised British Regulars who were only following the orders of their country's legitimate government. We have spent long enough making heroes out of a violent fringe movement.

Posted by: PersonFromPorlock at April 20, 2014 06:05 AM (UYiBe)

57 P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }Let's see if we can't make that a tad more legible. And you really do need an 'edit' function.

I keep telling myself that someday I'll get the Boston Globe to bite on this 'letter to the editor':

"This Monday marks Patriots' Day, the annual celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. But have we really thought about what the holiday means?

Traditionally, it celebrates the stand of American Patriots against the British Regulars who were sent into the countryside to seize illegal "military supplies" (read: guns) held by a non-government 'militia'. Metaphorically, the Patriots were the Branch Davidians and the Regulars were the BATFE, and we know how to think about that.

So why are we celebrating the Patriots, who hated their government to the extent they were arming themselves against it? Given the sensibilities of modern Massachusetts, wouldn't it be more seemly to remember the government troops who lost their lives that day? Let's re-purpose Patriots' Day to memorialize the real heroes, the despised British Regulars who were only following the orders of their country's legitimate government. We have spent long enough making heroes out of a violent fringe movement."

Posted by: PersonFromPorlock at April 20, 2014 06:09 AM (UYiBe)

58 Patriotism never meant support of the government. It always meant support of the country. Those British regulars were really mercenaries and the colonists were required to provide them logging. At the time of the Revolutionary War, Brits had a real problem with standing armies and they were not allowed in England but somehow George III thought they were OK in the colonies. Also, militias did not belong to the government. All militias were non-government militias They were private citizens required to be part of a local militia including providing their own gun. If they did not they paid a tax to opt out.

Posted by: Blackstone at April 20, 2014 09:20 AM (vm0dY)

59 58...

Congratulations, a clean miss....

Posted by: PersonFromPorlock at April 20, 2014 10:13 AM (UYiBe)

60 Not a clean miss. You are either indulging in sarcasm or trying to rewrite history. Either way your understanding of the militia is incorrect. I believe that militias may have become something akin to today's National Guard but that was after the Constitution. Before and at the time the Constitution was being written every able bodied man was required to be in the local militia. Also, the "Revolution" at the time was viewed by the Brits as the second Civil War. It was not an issue of Patriots "hating their government" but rather an issue of not liking different treatment from George III than other British peoples were receiving. Don't make the "Patriots" out to be some radical fringe group when all they were doing was wanting to return to the principals of the Magna Carta. They were Conservatives and not Progressives.

Posted by: Blackstone at April 20, 2014 11:04 AM (vm0dY)

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