The Minuteman statue in Lexington, Massachusetts is said to represent Captain John Parker, who died on this day.
Except Parker wasn’t a minuteman.
He also probably didn’t look like the man in the statue, given his age and what other small details we know about him.
But as usual, nobody lets the facts get in the way of a good story, so just roll with it, hm?
(We’re guessing he probably wasn’t green, either. )
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Topsfield, Massachusetts wanted to be prepared when the British came. What’s more, they wanted to ensure that their militiamen were drilled and fully outfitted should the need arise. To that end, they offered some of the best wages for their Minutemen.
But they had some trouble recruiting at first, until the town’s selectmen decided that their initial force wasn’t nearly formidable enough.
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Only a few people had figured it out, and it’s not clear whether they were just guessing, but by this point in time both England and the Colonies were locked into a path that would lead inevitably to a shooting war.
To that end, Parliament approved sending over four thousand soldiers and sailors to the Colonies to help keep them in line. But it wasn’t as simple as that; there were still some people protesting the action, not that anyone listened to them.
Today we also peek in on someone who’s watching the action and has some thoughts.
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