People of the Revolution

Introduction… Hi! I’m Miss Holly. Welcome to Level 5 Social Studies! Today you will learn about Crispus Attucks, John Adams, & Paul Revere and their roles in the events leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Crispus Attucks

Crispus Attucks (1723? - March 5, 1770) was the first American to die for the Revolutionary cause: "The first to defy, the first to die."

Attucks was shot in the "Boston Massacre," the first fight leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Attucks was the American son of a native African father and a woman belonging to the Natick Indian tribe.

As a young adult, Attucks escaped his "owner" in Framingham, Massachusetts, and went to sea as a whaler and worked as a ropemaker in Boston, Massachusetts.

He learned to read and write, and studied government.

Attucks went to many anti-British meetings to discuss unfair taxes; he wrote to Governor Thomas Hutchinson (the Tory governor of Massachusetts) to protest these taxes.

On March 5, 1770, Attucks and other Patriots (Colonists who were against British rule) fought with the Red Coats (British soldiers) at Dock Square in Boston in an unofficial skirmish.

Attucks was the first of five people to die in the fight.

The soldier who shot the Patriots were tried for murder, but most were acquitted (the future US President, John Adams was the lawyer for the British soldiers); the acquittals further enraged the people of Boston.John Adams

As the first person to die for the American Revolutionary cause, Attucks was buried with honor in the Park Street cemetery in Boston.

"Crispus Attucks Day" was begun by black abolitionists in 1858; in 1888, the Crispus Attucks Monument was built in the Boston Common.

John Adams

John Adams was born in 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts.

He became known as the Duke of Braintree because of where he was born.

He graduated from Harvard University. He taught school for a year but didn't like it.

He studied law and became a lawyer.

John Adams thought everyone should have a fair trial.

He even defended the British soldiers, also known as the Redcoats.

He was the lawyer who defended the British soldiers who were accused of murdering Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre.

In 1775, the Battle of Lexington and Concord made people angry, so some important colonists had a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss it.

The meeting was called the Second Continental Congress.

John Adams made speeches for independence from England.

The Congress voted for independence which meant they were probably choosing to go to war with England.

John Adams thought they would need help from the South so the Congress chose George Washington from the Southern state of Virginia to be the General of the Continental Army.

On the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

John Adams was one of the five people who was asked to write the Declaration of Independence, but Thomas Jefferson really wrote most of it.

John Adams was one of the 56 men who signed it.

Paul Revere

Paul Revere (January 1, May 10, 1818) was a silversmith who tried to warn American patriots that the British were coming as the American Revolution began.

Revere was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Like his father, he was a silversmith, making tableware and other items out of silver and gold.

During the French and Indian War, he served as a soldier, fighting with the British against the French and the Indians.

Soon after, Revere married Sarah Orne. Paul Revere joined the secret anti-British organization called the "Sons of Liberty."

On December 16, 1773, Revere and others participated in the Boston Tea Party.

The Tea Party was a protest against high British taxes (imposed by the Stamp Act of 1765); the colonists dumped tea, a very valuable item at the time, into Boston Harbor.

Revere became a messenger for the colonists in their fight against the British.

On the night of April 18, 1775, Revere and William Dawes waited for a signal from the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston; one lantern meant that the British were coming by land, two lanterns meant that the British were coming by sea. Two lanterns were shining; this meant that the British were coming by sea.

This was the beginning of the American Revolution.

Their plan was to ride borrowed horses from Boston to Lexington, and on to Concord, Massachusetts, to warn the people that the British were coming.

Revere was captured by the British near Lexington, and Samuel Prescott (who had joined him on the ride) made it to Concord, warning Samuel Adams and John Hancock to protect the military equipment stored at Concord.

Revere became famous for the ride because the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow later wrote a poem called "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."

Revere commanded a garrison during the Revolutionary War, but did not have a major part in the war.

He later returned to silversmithing, at which he prospered.

Let’s watch three short Youtube video clips of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” Listen closely and decide which video clip is your favorite. Think about why it’s your favorite.

In conclusion… Today we have learned about Crispus Attucks, John Adams, & Paul Revere and their roles in the events leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Extension activities.. First, read the passage about Paul Revere. Second, complete the Paul Revere Cloze activity.

See you next time! Good bye.

References People of the revolution. (2003). Retrieved from Paul Revere. (2012). Retrieved from