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When I visited Boston (Lexington and Concord MA) I heard that Paul Revere was one of many people that alerted the residents of rural MA that the British Troops were coming. Why did he get all the credit and not the others?
"Listen my children and you shall here
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"
was less awkward and more pleasing to the ear than:
"Here's a story to inspire your awe
It's the midnight ride of William Dawes"
Revere was one part of a large network designed to alert the countryside. He was captured and detained by British cavalry for the majority of the night after he did manage to get word to Adams and Hancock, who were also alerted by others. When Revere died, he received a loving obituary in the Boston papers describing his career as a silversmith, engraver, businessman and revolutionary patriot. There was not a single word about his "midnight ride." No one thought that this was any sort of special distinction for Revere and he would today remain an obscure figure had it not been for Longfellow selecting him as the singular poetic symbol for the actions of many on the night of April 18th.
Because his backup band, The Raiders, was much better than Dawe's backup band, Squirrel Meat.
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