On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode to Lexington, Massachusetts to spread the alarm that the Regulars were marching. Revere made several important rides between 1774 and 1775, including one in September 1774 that brought the Suffolk Resolves to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

So why is it that we remember Paul Revere’s ride to Lexington and not any of his other rides?

Why is it that we remember Paul Revere on the night of April 18, 1775 and nothing about his life either before or after that famous ride?

Why is it that Paul Revere seems to ride quickly into history and then just as quickly out of it?

In this episode we speak with four scholars to explore Paul Revere’s ride through history.

Show Notes: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/130

About the Series

The mission of episodes in the Doing History: To the Revolution series is to ask not just “what is the history of the American Revolution?” but “what are the histories of the American Revolution?”

Episodes in this series will air beginning in Fall 2017.

The Doing History series is part of a partnership between Ben Franklin’s World and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

Be sure to check out Doing History season 1: Doing History: How Historians Work.

Bonus Content

• Episode Bibliography
• Doing History: To the Revolution!
• OI Reader

Complementary Episodes

• Episode 059: Eric Foner, The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
• Episode 075: Peter Drummey, How Archives Work (History of Paul Revere’s Accounts of his Ride)
• Episode 106: Jane Kamensky, The World of John Singleton Copley
• Episode 112: Mary Beth Norton, The Tea Crisis of 1773
• Episode 123: Revolutionary Allegiances
• Episode 128: Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History
• Episode 129: John Bell, The Road to Concord, 1775

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