Boston Herald: Sarah Palin Right On Revere, But Not
You’d actually believe that Sarah Palin was right if you just read the title of the article, which reads, “Experts back Sarah Palin’s historical account: You betcha she was right!”. Then, if you read the article, you’d actually find out that they managed to find one guy who kinda sorta agrees with her, and another who calls it baloney.
Sarah Palin yesterday insisted her claim at the Old North Church last week that Paul Revere “warned the British” during his famed 1775 ride — remarks that Democrats and the media roundly ridiculed — is actually historically accurate. And local historians are backing her up.
Palin prompted howls of partisan derision when she said on Boston’s Freedom Trail that Revere “warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.”
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In fact, Revere’s own account of the ride in a 1798 letter seems to back up Palin’s claim. Revere describes how after his capture by British officers, he warned them “there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time for I had alarmed the Country all the way up.”
Boston University history professor Brendan McConville said, “Basically when Paul Revere was stopped by the British, he did say to them, ‘Look, there is a mobilization going on that you’ll be confronting,’ and the British are aware as they’re marching down the countryside, they hear church bells ringing — she was right about that — and warning shots being fired. That’s accurate.”
Patrick Leehey of the Paul Revere House said Revere was probably bluffing his British captors, but reluctantly conceded that it could be construed as Revere warning the British.
“I suppose you could say that,” Leehey said. “But I don’t know if that’s really what Mrs. Palin was referring to.”
McConville said he also is not convinced that Palin’s remarks reflect scholarship.
“I would call her lucky in her comments,” McConville said.
So, Sarah, there is still no definitive proof (primary sources, etc) which explicitly prove, or deny, the claim you made. The fact of the matter is, when asked about the history of Paul Revere’s ride, the average American would be able to tell you the correct perception of the story. The fact that your mangled version landed on an unsupported claim is wildly lucky at best. Stop pandering to you base by adding gun rights to everything you touch.