Day 15 - 7/5

After the craziness of July Fourth, we decided to take it easy today. We went and toured around Lexington and Concord. These were the places where the Revolutionary War started. The British soldiers, or Redcoats, were traveling to Concord to get ahold of the munitions that were being kept there by the colonists. To warn the people, Paul Revere had Thomas Newman place two lanterns in the Old North Church to show that the British were planning to come by sea, which was a faster route. Then, Paul Revere along with William Dawes rode to Concord warning the people along the way that the Regulars were coming. Dr. Prescott, who was a fellow Son of Liberty, later joined them and was able to escape when the British caught Paul Revere. We saw the bridge where the "shot heard 'round the world' rang out, starting the war. It is unclear which side pulled the trigger first. We went to a Ranger led activity where they presented several eyewitness accounts of the occurrence. We were then let to interpret the evidence and determine our own opinion. I personally feel that it was the British. Regardless of who shot first, the colonists who were willing to sacrifice their lives so that others may have freedom are people that we should look up to.

We went to the Minute Men National Park to learn more about the Minute Men who were named so because they could be ready to fight within a minute. They had a demonstration where they showed how a typical Minute Man would load his gun and fire it. They shot it without the bullet, but it was still fun to see the smoke and flares. We completed the Junior Ranger program they had there and we all got a special patch. It required us to fill out a rather long packet and attend Ranger led activities. If you ever attend a National Park with kids, I would recommend completing one, as it is fun and you learn lots!