Sample Speech to Inform By Tiffany Whiteside Paul Revere: The Man and the Legend Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in seventy‐five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to‐night, Hand a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,‐‐ One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm. We all have heard about Paul Revere’s famous ride, but who knows about Paul Revere’s life? Who was this great man? Where did he live? What did he do for a living? What led up to that famous ride? Listen my peers, and you shall here… Paul Revere was born in Boston on January 1, 1735 to Paul and Deborah Hitchbourne Revere. His father was a native of France who came to Massachusetts to escape the tyrannical rule of Louis XIV. He wanted to grow up under English rule, which was less restrictive than anything a Frenchman had yet dreamed of. As a boy of French decent, Paul stood out with his shock of brown hair and dark, black eyes that were an oddity in Boston, a city populated largely by blond‐haired, blue‐eyed Anglo Saxons. He was an exceptionally smart young boy but had to leave school at age thirteen in order to learn his father’s trade of silversmith. Paul spent many years in the apprenticeship of his father. He enjoyed the work and became a much better craftsman than his father. In the spring of 1750, at the age of fifteen, Paul took on the job of bell ringer in the Old North Church. It took seven large boys to ring the eight bells housed in the steeple of the church. He enjoyed the time he spent in the steeple and would tell his younger brothers and sisters, “What a thrill it is to look out over the countryside from the steeple! Why, no man in Boston has been higher than I! Why I’ll wager a body who waved a flag or lit a lantern in that steeple could be seen for miles around!” One evening in the winter of 1754, Paul’s father said to him, “No apprentice in Boston does work as fine as your work. And one day you’ll be the best silversmith in the city. Yes, I shall leave my business in good hands. You know I have not been well for a long time, and very soon it will be up to you to keep the business going and the family intact. Somehow I am not worried about either one.” Paul’s father died just two months later. So Paul had to become the head of his large family at twenty. He was very capable and had a self‐confidence unique for his age. In 1756, just two years later, Paul joined the Massachusetts colonial militia and immediately became a second lieutenant. When the British troops came to America, the colonists knew that the British were different from them. The English Parliament decided to enforce an old law which declared that all provincial officers were inferior to all English officers, no matter what the rank. This angered many colonists. Paul, too, was angered and asked concerning the law, “Why?” His friend responded, “We are Americans, son, Americans.” This friend’s remark brought Paul’s heart and spirit such overwhelming joy at this strange new pride in his own country. Why had he not realized it before? He was an American! These first inklings of a fiery patriotism grabbed hold of him and although he did not yet realize it, Paul’s life would never be the same. Paul came home and took up the business again and started making silverware for Mr. Thomas Hutchison and Thomas Hancock—the richest men in Massachusetts. He married Sara Orne and they have many children: Deborah, Paul, Sara, Mary, Frances, and Elizabeth (and two babies who died young). Then Sara died and Paul married Rachel Walker a few years later. They had Joshua, Joseph, Harriet, and John (and three more babies who died young). There were fifteen children in all. Paul was a very busy man in the home, in his work, and in politics. He joined the Whig party and worked closely with John Hancock, Joseph Warren, and Samuel Adams. He became a dedicated leader of the Whig party and met with the party’s leaders in the Long Room (a long chamber located over the tiny shop where the finest newspaper in New England, The Boston Gazette, was printed). Paul participated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and rode horseback to New York to inform the Sons of Liberty of this event. One year later he rode to New York again to tell of the Boston Port Bill. His third mission sent him to Philadelphia with the Suffolk Resolves, where he defied the Intolerable Acts of September 9, 1774. In the same year he was designated official courier to the Continental Congress by the Massachusetts Province Assembly. During this time, Paul drew political cartoons that were used as effective propaganda by the rebellious colonials. He designed the first issue of continental currency, the first official seal of the colonies, and the seal of Massachusetts, which is still used today. While on a trip to Philadelphia, he learned how to make gunpowder, and upon returning to Canton, Massachusetts, he set up powder‐making equipment in an old mill. In 1776, he became a member of the Committee of Correspondence and was appointed a major in the Massachusetts Militia. During 1778 and 1779 he commanded Castle William in Boston Harbor, and in the summer of 1779 he took part in the ill‐fated Penobscot Expedition. He was accused of cowardice and insubordination but was cleared by court martial in 1782. After the war, Revere urged ratification of the federal Constitution and returned to business. He discovered a process for rolling sheet copper, and in 1808 and 1809 he made copper plates for Robert Fulton’s steamboat boilers. His foundry also supplied nuts and bolts for “Old Ironsides” during the war. He and his sons made 398 church bells, 75 of which still ring today in steeples in New England. Paul Revere died on May 10, 1818 at the age of 83 years old. Now back to that famous ride. What happened? On April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren sent for Paul Revere. Other messengers had been dispatched for Lexington and Concord by longer routes. Paul was to go, as planned, the same way the English were going—across the Charles River. He was to alarm the citizens so they could arm themselves, and he was to inform John Hancock and Samuel Adams who were staying in Lexington. He had already arranged with Robert Newman (the sexton of the church) the “one if by land, two if by sea” signal to tell the colonists where the British were coming from. This refers to the placing of one lamp or two lamps in the steeple of the North Church. Paul went to the Charles River where a boat was waiting for him that he had hidden there during the winter. Paul’s dog followed him there. There was an English transport on the river and he knew he would have to row past it. Then he realized his first mistake. He had meant to bring a cloth to tie around the oars so they would be quiet in the water. He had left it at home. Then he realized his second mistake; he had left for his big ride without his spurs. Luckily, he knew a lady who lived nearby. He ran to her house and asked for some cloth. This lady was not a time waster. She stepped out of the petticoat she was wearing gave it to him. As for the spurs, luckily Paul’s dog was well trained. He wrote a note to his wife and tied it around the dog’s neck. By the time Paul had tied the petticoat to the oars of the boat, his dog was back with the spurs tied around his neck. Paul made it safely past the English transport with its 64 guns and met a group of people from Charleston on the other side of the river who had seen the lights in the steeple and had a horse waiting for Paul. A glimmer and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns. A hurry of hoofs in a village street A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; That was all! And yet through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. Paul was riding on the road by himself when he saw two men on horseback under a tree. They were two English officers. One officer tried to get ahead of Paul.