Learning at the National Heritage Museum

Confrontation on the Common: Arms, Munitions & Medical Supplies

Primary Source / Item:  map

(Image courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University)

     Among the types of images that can be used as primary sources are maps.  This example entitled: "Plan of the Town and Harbour of Boston" was published in London on 29 July 1775.  It illustrates how military stores- arms, munitions and medical supplies- were being guarded outside the city, leading to the events of April 19 in Boston "and the Country adjacent with the Road from Boston to Concord, Showing the Plan of the late Engagement between the King's Troupes & the Provincials." 

     The best source for local historical maps is usually your town historical society and your town library.  The National Heritage Museum's Libarary and Archives collection holds approximately 100 maps documenting the exploration and growth of North America as well as the development of the colonies.  Among these holdings are a number of Revolutionary War battle maps, traveler's aids published during the period of westward migration, and maps that delineate roads, waterways, and mineral resources.

Several websites that specialize both in providing old maps as primary sources and in teaching how to read and analyze maps in the classroom are:   Lewis & Clark: the Maps of Exploration 1507-1814, Special Collections Library, Univ. of Virginia,  Mapping Colonial New England, a lesson plan of EDSITEMENT, the education website of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and History Matters, maps online feature links including the Library of Congress, Historic USGS Maps of New England, and cartography archives.  There is also a special feature on 'Making Sense of Maps' as primary sources.

Confrontation on the Common: Pitcairn & Gage

Primary Source / Item:  newspaper and portrait

(Images courtesy of American Antiquarian Society and Library of Congress)
 

Two men in charge of the British Regulars on Arpil 19, 1775 were General Thomas Gage and Major John Pitcairn, commanders of the King's forces in Boston.  Gage sent Pitcairn out to Concord with 1000 men to seize the military supplies being stored there.  Seen as 'the enemy' in our history books, little is commonly known about these individuals.  Here is an example of how two different types of primary sources might work together to fill in some information.  Perhaps the goal is for a student to profile someone from history, like Gage, and/or develop a living history character profile. 

Working with this printed document featuring the personal account of British General Thomas Gage, and this engraving by Robert Pollard featuring Gage's image, one might be able to imagine his point of view or general character.  The image was accessed through the collections of the Library of Congress, and the document is courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society.  In the article, entitled "A Circumstantial Account of an Attack" 1775, describing the events of April 19th Gage claims that the "about 200 armed  Men" on Lexington common "fired four or five Shot at the Troops" when the soldiers tried to disarm them.

Enduring Symbol: Lexington, the Birthplace of American Liberty

Primary Source:  1915 Program and Lexington Town Meeting Minutes

(Images courtesy of the Library at Minute Man National Historical Park and Cary Memorial Library)

Lexington's town records  include the handwritten Town Meeting Minutes kept by the town clerk (on right.)  Some might say these public manuscripts are proof to support that Lexington is the Birthplace of America, because they illustrate how Lexingtonians went from being provincials with farming concerns to being armed patriots.  On 13 February 1769, it is recorded: "Minutes of Board of Selectmen Lexington: Call Town Meeting for March 6...to see if the town will suffer swine to go at large;"  7 March 1769, "Meeting of Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of the Town: voted that swine go at large;"  10 November 1774, "Meeting of Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of the Town: Voted to bring the Two pieces of Cannon mentioned in the Warrant from Watertown and mount them at the Towns charge...Voted that the Town provide a Pair of Drums for the use of the Military Company in Town;"  28 November 1774, "Meeting of Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of the town: Voted that the Training Band and alarm meet on Thursday the 12th of December next in Order to View Arms and Ammunition." 

On the first anniversary of April 19, 1775, Jonas Clarke commemorated the day with a fiery sermon.  Only a year after the battle, Clark called it an "evermemorable day...full of importance to all around-- to this whole land and nation."  After the war, luminaries such as George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette began visiting Lexington.  As Clarke had predicted, the town and the day had become a part of history.  Eventually everyday tourists started coming to the green dubbed "the birthplace of American liberty."  The printed documents  shown here (on left, and center) are from the Sequi-centennial celebration of 1925.  They are two images of many since to feature the minuteman as the enduring symbol that has defined the town of Lexington since the battle.