“...April 18, 1775, on the eve of the Revolutionary War after a British major ordered John Adams, John Hancock, and those with them to disperse...”
I understand the sentiment expressed in your post, but Adams and Hancock were not there on the Green when British Major John Pitcairn ordered Lexington Militia Captain John Parker and his 77 Massachusetts Militiamen to disperse.
Adams and Hancock were in a carriage getting out of Dodge, so to speak because there was a price on their heads.
Parker ordered his men “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
Parker’s cousin Jonas Parker was bayonetted to death in that engagement; later on, after the withdrawal from the Green, Parker’s men and other converging Militia units shot the living hell out of the government, err, “British” troops in a running gun battle from Concord back to Boston.
Just a minor correction, good brother.
And just think...it started over Gun Control then, too.