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Event · Significance tier 4

Night of April 18–19, 1775

Revere and Dawes carry the alarm

Joseph Warren sent Paul Revere and William Dawes toward Lexington as British regulars began their expedition; riders and local networks spread the warning onward.

Category
popular mobilization
Episode relations
1

Episode coverage

Episode 1

substantial · spoken: caption verified

Visual check: sequence context

Why this coverage: The film names both Dawes and Revere and situates them inside a larger alarm network; the sequence was checked visually.

Caption entry: 01:34:06.273

Reviewed sequence context: ep1-cue-12-open-war

Why it matters

The alarm was a distributed system, not a solitary ride, and it converted intelligence into militia mobilization across the countryside.

Why this tier

The warning network shaped the scale of April 19, while its iconic memory has often eclipsed the many riders and local organizers involved.

Each famous detail needs a date and source. Revere produced several accounts; later recollections and Longfellow’s poem belong to the history of memory, not an undifferentiated eyewitness narrative.

Evidence trail

  • mhs-paul-revere-documents
  • nps-april-19-1775

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