Paul Revere

Paul Revere (1735–1818) is best known today for his ride from Boston in April 1775 to warn the colonists that the British army was coming, as memorialized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1860 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” However, Revere’s greatest impact was as the producer of important and effective propaganda, such as the broadside of “The Bloody Massacre on King-Street,” which elevated a street brawl into the “Boston Massacre” in 1770. A silversmith by trade, Revere also had military experience, having served as a lieutenant of artillery in the 1756 Crown Point Expedition against the French. In 1776, he joined the Boston militia and was eventually promoted to lieutenant colonel.