If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.
If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.
Main content
Course: US history>Unit 3
Lesson 1: The American Revolution
- The Seven Years' War: background and combatants
- The Seven Years' War: battles and legacy
- Seven Years' War: lesson overview
- Seven Years' War
- Pontiac's uprising
- Uproar over the Stamp Act
- The Townshend Acts and the committees of correspondence
- The Boston Massacre
- Prelude to revolution
- The Boston Tea Party
- The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress
- Lexington and Concord
- The Second Continental Congress
- The Declaration of Independence
- Women in the American Revolution
- The American Revolution
Arts and humanities> US history> The road to revolution (1754-1800)> The American Revolution
© 2024 Khan Academy
Terms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Google Classroom
Overview
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, were the first military clashes of the American Revolutionary War.
The Massachusetts militia routed the British Army forces and were soon joined by militias from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. These militias would become the core of the Continental Army.
Growing tensions leading to the American Revolution
In February 1775, British Parliament declared that the colony of Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion.
After Parliament had passed the Intolerable Acts—largely aimed at punishing Boston’s revolutionaries for the Boston Tea Party—the British government had tightened its grip on the government of Massachusetts. The royally appointed governor, Thomas Gage, had been granted broadly expanded powers, and the British had sent thousands of troops to Boston.
The Massachusetts colonial assembly responded to these provocations by directing townships to ready their militias. War was coming, and Boston’s patriots were preparing for it.
The British were preparing, too, and in April 1775, they directed Gage to disarm the rebels. Gage ordered Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to gather 700 British Army soldiers and march to Concord, where the rebels were reportedly storing mass quantities of arms and ammunition. Their orders were to find the stash and destroy it.
The Patriots, as the anti-British rebels were known, had established a fairly effective intelligence network, and some historians even believe that Gage’s American wife, Margaret Kemble Gage, was a rebel spy. Whether or not she was the one who provided the Patriots with the information about the planned seizure and destruction of the armory at Concord, they received word of the British orders.
On April 18, Patriot Paul Revere rode to Concord and notified local militias in the area to be on the alert for the British army forces.
The "shot heard round the world"
On April 18, Revere was warned that British Army regulars were making their way to the towns of Lexington and Concord. Having already warned the militia in Concord, which had secured the weapons supply, Revere rode quickly to Lexington to warn the townspeople of the expected British onslaught. The rebel intelligence network suggested that the British aim in Lexington was to capture Samuel Adams and John Hanco*ck, two of the most prominent Patriot leaders, but the size of the British army force was large enough to suggest they had bigger goals in mind.
The British soldiers and rebel militiamen raced to Lexington during the night; they confronted each other at Lexington Green—a village common area—just as the sun was rising on the morning of April 19. Captain John Parker, a veteran of the Seven Years' War, led a contingent of 80 Lexington militiamen, known as minutemen because they had to be ready to fight at a minute’s notice. Years later, one of the participants recalled Parker’s words right before the deadly skirmish: “Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
A British officer demanded that the militia disarm and disperse, and in the ensuing confusion, shots were fired. To this day, there exists considerable uncertainty over whether the militiamen or the British soldiers fired first. Regardless, the British soldiers rushed forward with their bayonets. A skirmish ensued, during which eight militiamen were killed and only one British soldier wounded.
After order was restored, the British soldiers began the march to Concord, where militias from Concord and the nearby town of Lincoln were waiting. After the British found and destroyed rebel weapons caches, they squared off against the colonial forces at the North Bridge. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the British soldiers broke rank and fled, handing the stunned colonists a victory.
The militiamen proceeded to lay siege to Boston, where they were joined by militias from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. These colonial forces would be constituted as the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress.
The American Revolutionary War had begun.
What do you think?
In your opinion, was the Battle of Lexington really a battle? Why was it so significant?
Do you think the confrontation at Lexington and Concord made war with Britain inevitable?
What role do you think spies might have played in shaping the course of the first military clash between the British army and the colonial militias?
Article written by Dr. Michelle Getchell. This article is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Notes
For more, see David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).
Quoted in Walter R. Borneman, American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2014), 157.
For more, see Arthur B. Tourtellot, Lexington and Concord: The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution (New York: Doubleday, 2000).
Log in shanita kibler-foster 8 years agoPosted 8 years ago. Direct link to shanita kibler-foster's post “why was the battle of lex...” why was the battle of lexington so significant ? • (27 votes) gracegallagher 4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to gracegallagher's post “It was the first battle o...” It was the first battle of the revolutionary war. (28 votes) Kannampallil,S 7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Kannampallil,S's post “How would the loyalist he...” How would the loyalist help the british, during battles like these? • (13 votes) Matt W. 7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Matt W.'s post “the loyalists would eithe...” the loyalists would either refuse to take part in the conflict or they would help by exposing plans. Usually they refused to do anything. Some of them helped quarter soldiers. (19 votes) Pip 7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Pip's post “"The Patriots, as the ant...” "The Patriots, as the anti-British rebels were known, had established a fairly effective intelligence network, and some historians even believe that Gage’s American wife, Margaret Kemble Gage, was a rebel spy." Where can I learn more about Margaret Kemble Gage? Does anyone know of any reliable sites to check out? Thanks! :) • (4 votes) Savannah Skorupski sskorups0001 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to Savannah Skorupski sskorups0001's post “mountvernon.org has many ...” mountvernon.org has many articles and videos about the Revolutionary War. I bet you could find some great information about Margaret Kemble Gage there. : ) (6 votes) ScienceLover7 4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to ScienceLover7's post “The article says that "_A...” The article says that "After order was restored, the British soldiers began the march to Concord..."; but how was the order restored? Did John Parker make peace with the Britsh? Or sommething else? • (8 votes) David Alexander 4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “Order is restored when so...” Order is restored when someone takes command and others obey. It was restored by good military discipline. (10 votes) Zob Rombie 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Zob Rombie's post “Did the militias collect ...” Did the militias collect the supplies they needed from the weapon caches and leave some as bait for the British to destroy, or were the British able to destroy the caches before the militias could stop them? Did the militia even know that the objective of the British was to destroy said caches? • (10 votes) ChArLiE tAyLoRs 2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to ChArLiE tAyLoRs's post “Well the militias did get...” Well the militias did get to the supplies first leaving nothing behind, making me believe that the did not leave any Caches. there could have been caches but if you want to know then you might want to do some research ZOB ROMBIE (5 votes) TJonathank05 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to TJonathank05's post “why was it called the sho...” why was it called the shot heard round the world • (5 votes) Laura Claire 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Laura Claire's post “Because the spark from th...” Because the spark from the American revolution spread to other nations and colonies and inspired them to fight for their independence. So it wasn't a literal gunshot, it was more of an idea that spread. (10 votes) avfai2030 7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to avfai2030's post “do you think the confront...” do you think the confrontation at Lexington and Concord made war with Britain inevitable? • (3 votes) Sunny Yu 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Sunny Yu's post “I think the thing is you ...” I think the thing is you can't say anything is inevitable when talking about historical events. History was influenced by people, so if people acted differently, everything would have been completely different. For example, if no one fired in Lexington, it would make no difference. (8 votes) eva.lukasick a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to eva.lukasick's post “1.Yes, The Battle of Lexi...” 1.Yes, The Battle of Lexington was a real battle because shots were fired and there was a feud between the two groups of people. • (5 votes) brose624 8 years agoPosted 8 years ago. Direct link to brose624's post “does any body under stand...” does any body under stand question 3 i am comfused • (0 votes) Harriet Buchanan 7 years agoPosted 7 years ago. Direct link to Harriet Buchanan's post “I think it concerns how t...” I think it concerns how the colonial militia were told of the coming British troops, making them able to prepare in advance. Somebody had to know about the British Army orders, ride to Lexington and Concord, and tell the militia of the British plans. It's asking if there were spies in the British Army who were willing to risk telling the colonists. (10 votes) Damiean Lyons 8 months agoPosted 8 months ago. Direct link to Damiean Lyons's post “What made the minutemen s...” What made the minutemen special besides being expected to be prepared in under a minute? • (2 votes) Stephen White 8 months agoPosted 8 months ago. Direct link to Stephen White's post “I'm sure the Minutemen we...” I'm sure the Minutemen were special in many ways - one of which you mentioned. Perhaps they were also special in that they were willing and prepared to fight for freedom from tyranny. Maybe they were special in that they wanted their families and those who followed them to be able to live their lives free from the strong arm of government overreach and abuse. I think they were special because you and I are some of those people for whom they fought. Could we say the same about our generation? (5 votes)Want to join the conversation?
2.Yes, because it pushed the Britain's to fight for what they believed was rightfully theirs.
3.The spies would have given the Britain's and English information that would not have been widely known and let them prepare for battle.
