Although we'd walked to many of the places before in the 2 days we'd been in Boston, it was really useful to see how they related to one another and to have other things pointed out to us.
As soon as we left Boston we headed for 2 prime Revolutionary War sites.
LEXINGTON AND CONCORD
On April 19th 1775 the first battle of the American Revolution began in Lexington when British troops marched to Concord to seize American munitions. The American Minute Men - so called because they were prepared to fight at a moment's notice - had well-rehearsed plans, so when the British set out from Boston Common, Paul Revere and William Dawes left on separate routes to sound the alarm. Within minutes church bells signalled the rebels to head for Lexington Green. Hundreds more converged around the North Bridge area of Concord.
John Parker, the colonial captain, on hearing that the British were closing in on the Green, ordered his men: 'Don't fire unless fired upon but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.' With only 77 Americans pitted against 700 British regulars, there was no hope of victory: 8 Americans were killed with no British casualties.
The British marched 8 miles west to Concord, arriving in the early morning. Hundreds more Minute Men had amassed on a farm behind North Bridge near where most of the munitions were stored. Events escalated after the British officers accidentally set fire to a building, the Americans thought their homes had been torched and the British fired 2 warning shots. The Concord militiamen retaliated - the 'shot heard round the world'. The British were outnumbered 4 to 1 and suffered heavily in the ensuing battle.
John Parker, the colonial captain, on hearing that the British were closing in on the Green, ordered his men: 'Don't fire unless fired upon but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.' With only 77 Americans pitted against 700 British regulars, there was no hope of victory: 8 Americans were killed with no British casualties.
The British marched 8 miles west to Concord, arriving in the early morning. Hundreds more Minute Men had amassed on a farm behind North Bridge near where most of the munitions were stored. Events escalated after the British officers accidentally set fire to a building, the Americans thought their homes had been torched and the British fired 2 warning shots. The Concord militiamen retaliated - the 'shot heard round the world'. The British were outnumbered 4 to 1 and suffered heavily in the ensuing battle.
Battle Green:
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| Buckman Tavern, HQ of the Minutemen. |
Old North Bridge:
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| The Minute Man |
PLYMOUTH ROCK
Plymouth, America's so-called 'hometown' is best known for being the first permanent settlement established by the English Pilgrims in 1620.
Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers, is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Their leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownist English Dissenters who had fled the volatile political environment in England for the relative calm and tolerance of 16th–17th century Holland in the Netherlands. Concerned with losing their cultural identity, the group later arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America. The colony, established in 1620, became the second successful English settlement (after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607) and later the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in what was to become theUnited States of America. The Pilgrims' story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.
Not surprisingly, the town is mostly given over to commemorating their landing.
Plymouth Rock, on the waterfront at North and Water streets, and sheltered by a pseudo-Greek temple on the seashore,
is where the Pilgrims are said to have first touched land. In fact, the rock was only identified in 1741. No-one can be sure where exactly they did land and they had already spent several weeks on Cape Cod before coming here. Have to say, we were underwhelmed by the rock itself!
is where the Pilgrims are said to have first touched land. In fact, the rock was only identified in 1741. No-one can be sure where exactly they did land and they had already spent several weeks on Cape Cod before coming here. Have to say, we were underwhelmed by the rock itself!
CAPE COD
In 1602 the English explorer Bartholomew Grosnold visited the area and named it after the profusion of white fish in the local waters. By the early 1800s whaling had become the Cape's primary industry but with the development of the railroad in the 19th century tourism overtook it. Today, the Cape's population more than doubles in the summer when more than 80,000 cars a day cross the Cape Cod Canal.
Geography is the Cape's greatest future danger: the land is particularly vulnerable to erosion, being scarcely one mile wide in places and narrowing all the time.
HYANNIS
Hyannis is one of Cape Cod's biggest and liveliest towns and is still probably most renowned for having been at the centre of world affairs during the presidency of JFK, whose family's summer home is still in Hyannisport.
We didn't see any of this, of course, in our stay here.
Looks like an interesting day. I suspect Mum was more thrilled that Dad (a lot of history) lol!
ReplyDeleteI see what you meant about the landscape and feel of the place being very like 'England' in New England.