The American Revolution: When Did It Really Begin?

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In school we learn that the American Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. But did it? We talk to a historian and author about the events that preceded those battles that effectively threw out British rule in Massachusetts and set the stage for the other colonies to revolt and fight for freedom from England.

Every school child learns about the battles of Lexington and Concord and their roles in the creation of our country. The opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous poem, Concord Hymn, immortalized that moment when the American Revolution began on North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts…

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

And fired the shot heard round the world.

But is this the real beginning of the Revolution? Ray and Marie Raphael don’t think so, and they’re telling the story of the actual beginning in their book, The Spirit of ’74: How the American Revolution began…

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[fusebox_transcript]