Revolutionary War

A group of students doing a Revolutionary War reenactment

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Americans are paying particular attention to the history of the nation: the “shot heard ’round the world,” the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, and all of the history from just before and af

“Reading about history in a book is good, but it doesn't give you the same feel as attending a living history event,” says Cindy Jackson, a reenactor who is coordinator of the Fair at New Boston, an annual Labor Day event in Springfield that includes several reenactments during its run. “It helps us get in touch with history instead of it being a dry subject in a textbook — and when you see it happening right in front you, it isn't as pretty as in the movies.”

 

Historians note the April 1775 “shot heard ’round the world” — the opening round of gunfire when colonial Patriots engaged the British army for the first time during a skirmish in Massachusetts. 

It read, in part, “As the Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other Consideration, we resolve that we will exert every Power within us for the Defence of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultous Manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen.”

In today’s parlance, it might be described as a challenge to “fool around and find out.”