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Hello, and thanks for joining Revolution 250, where we look at events that took place 250 years ago this week.

This is from the American Revolution podcast, just a short bonus episode to remind you about important anniversaries from the Revolutionary War. Today, we

remember the news of Lexington and Concord, finally reaching London.

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In the days that followed Lexington and Concord, the provincial Congress received reports

or took depositions of people involved in the day's events. The committee of nine took

97 depositions over the next three days. We know much of Paul

Revere's efforts on those days because of the report he wrote for Congress. Many of these reports

ended up in the journals of the Continental Congress. Committees of correspondence sent copies to

all the other colonies via express writers. Patriots thought it was critical that they get out

their side of the story first. The events of the day could be painted as out-of-control colonists,

attacking soldiers who simply marched down the road, or as regulars terrorizing the colonists

who merely defended themselves. Whoever fired first at Lexington became an important

point of contention. The colonists claim that the regulars fired first, while British officers

claim that someone fired at the soldiers before they returned fire. The leaders in Massachusetts

wanted to convince the other colonies to join them in the fight.

If the others believed that Massachusetts had provoked an unjustified fight, they might be left

on their own. In Boston, British officers prepared reports on the events of the conquered

...