>>Other than recalling a fragment of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s wonderful, if historically inaccurate poem, many Americans, myself included, do not know much more about Paul Revere
I wouldn’t worry about the “historical inaccurate poem” since most Americans under 35:
1) Have never heard it anyway.
2) Don’t know who Paul Revere is. If you tell them, you will get a hand wave and snort of disgust that you are trying to teach them about more “Dead white males”.
3) Think the American Revolution is the war where Abraham Lincoln rode though the south with a flaming sword, cutting the chains off the legs of African-American slaves and killing slaveowners.
4) Think that all history began with “Yes, We Can” and a humble Kenyan-American who rose from nothing to defeat the racists so he could clean the air and lower the oceans and give Americans the Hope and Change that Marx promised them in the Declaration of Indpendence.
I read the poem last week with my students. Historical inaccuracies matter so little; it is a wonderful poem. They can find out WHO rowed the boat, etc., later if they so desire.
If anyone is interested in receiving a biography of Paul Revere, just send me an e-mail and I’ll forward a pdf copy to you.