Posted on 02/20/2017 12:19:29 PM PST by EveningStar
Do you know who Paul Revere is? He is one of America's key historical figures. Want to know what he did? Eric Metaxas, New York Times #1 bestselling author, shares the remarkable story.
(Excerpt) Read more at prageru.com ...
Revere doesn’t get his due. He’s famous almost exclusively for the Midnight Ride (he wouldn’t have shouted “The British are Coming!” because all American colonials then were British), but his role as a subversive was much more consequential. He was one of several prominent and respected figures who moved quietly in the shadows, fanning the embers of revolution.
For all that ride’s fame, the irony is that he didn’t manage to reach his intended destination. The Redcoats captured and arrested him on the way. Lucky for us, he wasn’t the only one who’d been sent with that message.
As for the accent, it was the English whose accent changed more than the Americans. About the time of the American Revolution, the British were having a run of bad luck and back home their upper classes found themselves struggling to maintain their supposed superiority. One of the things they did to emphasize their status was to adopt an even more strident accent. They deliberately changed their manner of speech so they could use the resulting accent as a shibboleth to distinguish themselves from the common rabble.
There were no such linguistic pressures in the (much more socially little-d democratic) 13 former colonies, so the American accent evolved at a more leisurely pace. The closet thing existing today to the English accent of 1783 probably is that used by the country club crowd in the affluent areas of Virginia. I call it the “First Family of Virginia” accent, and it persevered best there because Virginia had such a concentration of English settlers. It’s unlike any other American accent, very distinctive, very elegant sounding.
My F-I-L by my first marriage was a textbook example, but unfortunately I do not have a recording of him. In a quick YouTube search, this was as close as I could come, particularly the two older men: http://bit.ly/2lgohDJ
Regardless, it stands to reason that there must have been limited and ineffective coordination among the Massachusetts Navy, the Continental Navy, and the Massachusetts Militia, where Revere served.
Thoughts, since you were presumably in the loop?
I have learned that many stories are apocryphal. :(
William Diamond’s Drum..
By Arthur Tourtellot.
Fantastic account of that entire Battle.
A photo of the South Bridge?
listen to the accent of one of your cousins. Reminds me a bit of my father:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alznzrsPBOk
It was Paul Revere in 1967 to me anyhow....
Bubble gum rock for we kiddies then
That’s an older generation southern accent of the educated class
A vanishing thing
Educated millennial southerners are as hipster as any other unless they choose otherwise like my kids
Anti freepers who imagine me as a Christian Identity Grand kleagle often giggle as YANKEES that they imagine I sound like Matthew McConahey in Dazed
It’s meant as. a dig by their customary self righteousness
But it’s accurate
That is my era accent which would run from South Carolina to Texas below the mid south where I now live
bump
I don’t believe there is one today.
If you speak with someone from Southern Georgia and someone from Northern Maine would you find their accents similar?
Driving through Boston today will give you a sense of how much that ride sucked. It is a large city built on goat paths.
Its funny, when I was in college everyone would tell you they were from Boston. There were people from Framingham who would tell you they were from “right outside” of Boston.
It got to be a joke.
Please FreepMail me if you want to be added to or removed from this low volume ping list. Ping requests gladly accepted.
Recessional of the Sons of the American Revolution:
“Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to our
forefathers who gave us our Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
an independent Supreme Court and a nation of free men.”
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, when asked if we had a republic or a monarchy, replied "A Republic, if you can keep it."
By failing to deploy the artillery in his command, Paul Revere was a substantial contributor to the loss of 117 USN ships. It was the largest loss in the history of the US Navy
On the Laura Ingraham show she once talked about some letters she had read from the early days of the US.
One was written by a young lady from Laura’s hometown. The young lady had just gotten married and had moved with her husband to his hometown.
The young lady was terribly homesick and was moaning about the possibility of never seeing her parents and siblings again.
Laura said “that’s where I go for groceries”!
What we consider a short distance today was quite another thing in the 1700’s.
I have had a great change in my own perception of distance since my childhood.
When I was a child and up until adulthood Richmond, the state capital, was considered a far off place that was nearly mythical because so few people had actually been there.
We could go places but the demands of farm work at the time didn’t allow for much travel.
Think Andy Taylor and Mayberry.
“The Redcoats captured and arrested him on the way. Lucky for us, he wasn’t the only one who’d been sent with that message.”
There were actually two people who were acting as messengers. The two rode a short ways together and happened on an acquaintance who was travelling home. The three were soon spotted by the British. It was the third man, the chance traveller, who escaped and warned the people of Concord and Lexington.
Revere lived in Boston, had access to the newspaper writers and did drawings and had no problem promoting himself as the hero.
“I call it the “First Family of Virginia” accent, and it persevered best there because Virginia had such a concentration of English settlers. It’s unlike any other American accent, very distinctive, very elegant sounding.”
Careful there!!
The northern parts of Virginia had/have quite a different accent from the southern areas.
The northern part of the state had the high concentration of English settlers.
The southern part of the state was settled by forced colonists from Scotland.
My family belonged to one of the clans that was such a PITA to the crown that the English army marched to the highlands, captured them and threw them on ships headed for the colonies.
Some landed in northern North Carolina and some in southern Virginia.
We in central and southern Virginia kept our distinctive accents for another generation or two but my own children, sadly, sound nothing like my wife and I. They still sound “country” but nothing like me.
I seem to recall that he referred to them as “the regulars”.
Also, this author should have mentioned that Revere was not the only rider that night. Longfellow made him the most famous, though.
At the end of August, we will be visiting the Boston area. Our trips are usually centered on history, mostly the Revolutionary War period — and actually anything related to George Washington. Really looking forward immersing myself in the history.
Good info here:
https://www.paulreverehouse.org/the-real-story/
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