250 Years Since the Shot Heard 'Round the World: Why Lexington and Concord Still Matter

Quick answer: Why do Lexington and Concord still matter 250 years later?

On April 19, 1775, ordinary farmers and tradesmen chose to stand against the most powerful army on earth, and the fighting at Lexington and Concord opened the Revolutionary War. John argues liberty isn't self-sustaining and must be remembered and passed on.

At dawn on April 19, 1775, British Regulars met colonial militia on Lexington Green, and eight Americans were killed. One was Ensign Robert Munroe, a veteran of the French and Indian War in his sixties. His son John later swore that his father was found dead near where the line had formed. At Concord's North Bridge, Major John Buttrick ordered, "Fire, fellow soldiers, for God's sake fire!" By nightfall the British had lost 73 killed and 174 wounded; the colonists counted 49 killed. John walked the Green for the 250th anniversary and stood at the Revolutionary Monument, where seven of the men killed there are buried. A young Lexington native named Spencer Adams Clark walked with him, pointed out the landmarks, and admitted no one his age really knows this history anymore. Then he mentioned that John Adams was his sixth great-grandfather. John's request is direct: if you haven't walked this ground, go. Read the names at the monument and stand where the Minute Men stood.

Why it matters for leaders: The freedoms won by ordinary citizens in 1775 last only as long as each generation chooses to learn and defend them.

Q: Who gave the order to fire at North Bridge?

Q: Who is buried at Lexington's Revolutionary Monument?

A: Seven of the eight militiamen killed on Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, reinterred there in 1835.

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By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation