About This Episode:

We look back at the events leading to the American Revolution, focusing on British attempts to control arms and ammunition and the growing tensions caused by taxation, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts. We cover General Thomas Gage’s actions in Massachusetts, the powder alarm of September 1774, and how quickly the militia responded when British authority moved against stored powder.

We then discuss Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, including Paul Revere’s warning, the fighting at Lexington Green, and the British retreat to Boston under attack. We also touch on the siege of Boston, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the arrival of George Washington and Henry Knox, linking these events to the founders’ view of an armed population as a check on tyranny.

Reference: The American Revolution against British Gun Control