The Battle of Lexington and Concord Essay Sample

On April 19th, 1755, Minutemen, civilian colonists, independently formed militia, uniting in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Of which encountered a regiment of British soldiers marching towards the town from Boston Road assigned to suppress the occurrence of rebellion seizing weapons from colonists, resulting in the first battle of the Revolutionary War. Thomas Gage, a British general, commanded all British forces in North America for more than ten years successfully. Although rebellion began through the outbreak of battles, failing as the Mayor of Massucheuts when tasked with constraining unrest rebels of colonists demanding representation due to restrictive British policies, resulting in a fearful position of jeopardizing political and economic power for the British government. Meanwhile, the violence turned into a colonial revolution against British Policy into a battle for political independence for colonists.

During the battles of Lexington and Concord, the colonists and British soldiers participated in the events, including redcoats, the local militia. These conflicts also include delegates, such as Paul Revere, involving minutemen led by Captain John Parker, the individually decided civilian colonists. The elite force was required to be highly mobile and assemble instantly, known as the local militia, which began preparing for the redcoat soldiers: 4,000 commissioned British soldiers fighting Great Britain, intending to seize gunpowder, ammunition, and weaponry in Concord. To capture the rebelling leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, however, Paul Revere the delegate, commonly idolized for his famous fabricated quote: "The British are coming," discreetly conducted an operation warning settlements upon settlements of regulars, the British soldiers, as the soldiers were hiding in the countryside. 

At the dawn of April 19th at Lexington, 700 British troops arrived encountering, 77 minutemen gathered at the town. A British major yelled: "Throw your arms down," while the heavily outnumbered minutemen were informed by their commander, Captin John Parker, to disperse, the militia and British troops proceeded to fire, resulting in the firing of the "First Shot Around the World," the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Since the encounter of the British and colonists on April 19th, historians debate which side fired the first shot. However, participants of the battle of Lexington and Concord accuse both parties of firing. In addition to previous statements, testimonies from 1775 state: "The Major instantly called to the soldiers not to fire, but to surround and disarm them; some of them who had jumped over a wall, then fired four or five Shot at the Troops, wounded a man of the 10th Regiment, and the Major's Horse in two Places, and at the same Time several Shots were fired from a Meeting-House on the left:" Yet people who presented their testimonies of the event began reconsidering their interpretations of the battles, which bias also began contradicting the credibility of the testimonies, making conclusions difficult. This event began following eight years of the fight for American political independence from Great Britain.

Several events and occurrences lead to the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the Revolutionary War, including the Intolerable Acts, the Boston Tea Party, the Stamp Act, and more. The colonies began rebelling and demanding representation in Parliament, resulting from tax increases, such as the "Stamp Act," the constitutional problem of who's in control. To afford the British troops stationed in the colonies during the seven years of wars, the French and Indian War, requiring the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp on forms of paper. On the contrary, colonists declared this a violation of colonial rights, following additional taxes: including the Sugar Act, taxing colonists upon products grown in colonies. Following the occurrence of the Boston Tea Party, an act of protest, colonists disguised as Indians on December 16th, 1733, attacked British tea ships. This event of resistance led to the passing of punitive laws, the Intolerable Acts, requiring colonists to house British soldiers, and when Royal Officials accused of crimes were sent to Great Britain for trials, resulting in basis. All of which, issuing the declaration of independence of white delegates, a new philosophy of government, the right to vote on taxes in their own local assemblies, the true significance of the slogan, "no taxation without represenation," following eight years of the fight for political freedom, and liberty. Despite this, the occurrence was preventable. Therefore, why did the British choose to conduct a war? It was a decision made regarding a political and economic sacrifice for political machinations in Great Britain. The British Parliament at the time was dominated by wealthy landowners, fearing an increase of the democratic movement would reduce their power, as Great Britain thought allowing colonists representation would intensify democratic reforms. Besides, the Parliament was denying most Great Britain citizens proper representation, resulting in the decision for the Revolutionary War than allowing the colonists representation. 

The outcomes of the battles of Lexington and Concord include the long term and short-term effects involving.