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From The “A Broken Clock Is Right Twice A Day” Dept – Sarah Palin And History.

Well, a number of Conservative are jumping all over the press and critics who lambasted Sarah Palin on her Paul Revere quote. For instance, Glen Reynolds (Insta-P) has this featured on his blog today:

PAUL REVERE UPDATE: Experts back Sarah Palin’s historical account.

He then writes:

Money quote: “A lot of the criticism is unfair and made by people who are themselves ignorant of history.”

Here is the Palin Quote:

“He who warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and by making sure that as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”

Before I go on, I must note that Palin is more right than her critics, myself included, would like to admit. Here is the Wiki description of the circumstances behind the Revere ride:

On April 14, 1775, General Gage received instructions from Secretary of State William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, to disarm the rebels, who were known to have hidden weapons in Concord, among other locations, and to imprison the rebellion’s leaders, especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Dartmouth gave Gage considerable discretion in his commands.[8][9] Gage issued orders to Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to proceed from Boston “with utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy… all Military stores…”

So the Brit’s were intending to take away the guns of the Rebels. Score one of Palin. BUT, was that what Revere’s mission as a messenger was, to warn the Colonists that the Brits were going to take away their arms?

Uhm…. no.

His mission was to warn that the British army was now on land and approaching. Further, is there any evidence that the main concern of the riders on this night was that their guns would be taken away? Lets examine that.

Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight, with Dawes arriving about a half hour later. They met with Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were spending the night with Hancock’s relatives (in what is now called the Hancock-Clarke House), and they spent a great deal of time discussing plans of action upon receiving the news. They believed that the forces leaving the city were too large for the sole task of arresting two men and that Concord was the main target.

The ride of Revere was a carefully planned event, and in fact there was another ride seven months before that WAS warning of the British regulars confiscating weapons called the Powder Alarm. It involved the British attempt to disarm the Colonists, not so much by taking away their guns, but by securing the gun powder supplies! That attempt stalled in its tracks. Which brings us back to Revere’s ride. He and the other riders were not as concerned with the British taking away their guns or gun powder, there was by this time much more at stake! The lives of fellow patriots Adams and Hancock were now in great danger, and that this new invasion by “the Regulars” was a full scale invasion to capture Concord!

Oh, there was one part of the Palin quote that is often left out when you see the Revere topic discussed:

“We saw where Paul Revere hung out as a teenager, which was something new to learn.”

This part of the quote is more important than you realize. You learn a few interesting things when you become a teacher, and in my short time teaching, I quickly learned to spot when someone has command of facts, or when someone slacked off the normal studies and crammed, hoping to retain enough knowledge to pass an exam. Palins comment smacks of the latter. She had just visited some historical sites, and remembered some stuff, but didn’t have the knowledge base to put the correct bits of info she did have into a coherent accounting of the ride of Paul Revere. Basically, she could see Paul Revere from her house!

Palin stuttered out some bits of correct info, but it’s clearly not in any context and doesn’t show any historical accuracy of the actual event. And then, just to show just how much she doesn’t get, she said this on FOX news:

“Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you’re not going to succeed. You’re not going to take American arms.”

Uhm… no. That was not part of the plan. He almost certainly improvised that.

Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were detained by a British Army patrol in Lincoln at a roadblock on the way to Concord.[12] Prescott jumped his horse over a wall and escaped into the woods; he eventually reached Concord. Dawes also escaped, though he fell off his horse not long after and did not complete the ride.[19][20]
Revere was questioned by the British officers and told them of the army’s movement from Boston, and that British army troops might be in some danger if they approached Lexington, because of the large number of hostile militia gathered there.[21] He and other captives taken by the patrol were then escorted east toward Lexington, until the sound of musket fire from the town center alarmed the patrolmen. Revere explained to them that it was probably an arriving militia company that had fired a volley upon its arrival. The sound was followed not long after by the pealing of the town bell.[22] The British confiscated Revere’s horse, and rode off to warn the approaching army column. Revere was horseless and walked through a cemetery and pastures until he came to Rev. Clarke’s house where Hancock and Adams were staying. As the battle on Lexington Green continued, Revere helped John Hancock and his family escape from Lexington with their possessions, including a trunk of Hancock’s papers.[20]

Revere only warned some British troops AFTER they captured him! Unless Revere planned to get captured, which was unlikely since he too was already known to be sympathetic to the rebel cause and would have been in danger of arrest or worse, there was no intent on his ride to confide in and warn the Regulars.

I would revise the “Money quote” to this one featured in the article:

“I would call her lucky in her comments,”

UPDATE: Here is a description of Paul Revere’s ride, by Paul Revere himself:

I, PAUL REVERE, of Boston, in the colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England; of lawful age, do testify and say; that I was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren, of said Boston, on the evening of the 18th of April, about 10 o’clock; when he desired me, ”to go to Lexington, and inform Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Hon. John Hancock Esq. that there was a number of soldiers, composed of light troops, and grenadiers, marching to the bottom of the common, where there was a number of boats to receive them; it was supposed that they were going to Lexington, by the way of Cambridge River, to take them, or go to Concord, to destroy the colony stores.”

Meanwhile, Palin keeps digging the hole deeper. Here she demonstrates her knowledge of American history on last nights interview with Chris Wallace:

You know what? I didn’t mess up about Paul Revere. Here is what Paul Revere did. He warned the Americans that the British were coming, the British were coming,

No, he didn’t. The phrase was “The Regulars are coming out”. And there is little evidence that he went from town to town yelling that phrase. He did go to specific houses, of known fellow patriots, and tell them “the Regulars are coming out”, a code understood to mean that the British army had landed.

and they were going to try take our arms and we got to make sure that we were protecting ourselves and shoring up all of ammunitions and our firearms so that they couldn’t take it.

Partially right. The main mission for Revere was to warn friends and fellow patriots Sam Adams and John Hancock to get out of town, because it was believe they were a main target for arrest.

But remember that the British had already been there, many soldiers for seven years in that area.

Uhm… Longer than that, considering most of the population were still British subjects! We were still British.

And part of Paul Revere’s ride — and it wasn’t just one ride — he was a courier, he was a messenger.

Check. Got that right.

Part of his ride was to warn the British that we’re already there. That, hey, you’re not going to succeed. You’re not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well- armed persons, individual, private militia that we have.

He did warn the British.

Yeah… With a gun to his head! But he didn’t do it as part of the original plan.

And in a shout-out, gotcha type of question that was asked of me, I answered candidly. And I know my American history.

Here, my friends, is the “gotcha question”:

What have you seen so far today, and what are you going to take away from your visit?

No, you don’t.