Paul Revere Was Overrated

​@iammrbeat and @MrBettsClass team up to tell the true story of Paul Revere. According to Mr. Beat, Paul Revere was definitely overrated, and most of us only know about him because of a poem written decades after his death. #paulrevere #ushistory #americanrevolution

Be sure to check out Mr. Betts' video about The Pilgrims

Yep, THOSE Pilgrims.

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Produced by Matt Beat. Music by Electric Needle Room (Mr. Beat's band). All images and video either by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines.

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Paul Revere was born in Boston’s North End some time in December 1734. His dad, Apollos Rivoire, was a Huguenot silversmith who came to Massachusetts as a refugee after being persecuted in France. He later changed his name to Paul Revere, by the way, and so yeah, Paul had the same name as his dad. His mom, Deborah Hichborn, had deeper roots in Boston as her family had been around for awhile. They owned a shipping wharf.

So yeah, Paul Revere junior was the third of their 12 kids. He went to the North Writing School, but at 13 left to begin training to become a silversmith like his dad. As a teen, he was drawn to the West Church and the controversial Congregationalist minister Jonathan Mayhew, who did not hide his political views during Sunday services. Paul senior did not approve of this, by the way. He also got work as a bellringer for another famous Boston church that later became important during the Revolution, the Old North Church.

Paul senior died when Paul junior was nineteen, and Paul was expected to take over the family business, even though his silversmith training wasn’t done yet. But he was resourceful, learning how to make surgical instruments and engraved printing copper plates to make more money. Two years later, he joined the British army to fight in the French and Indian War, perhaps also for the money.

He returned from the war in the fall of 1756 and resumed working as a silversmith. The next year, he met a woman named Sarah Orne and they fell in love, getting married in August. They’d eventually have eight children together.

Revere would also eventually end up running his silver shop for 40 years, producing items ranging from simple spoons to intricate tea sets. But when times were tough, like in the years following the French and Indian War, he branched out and got creative with how he made money, making illustrations for books, magazines, business cards, and political cartoons, and he even got into some dentistry. Yep, he cleaned teeth, fastened in false teeth, and sold toothpaste.

Revere also quickly got into local politics, especially after the British kept trying to tax everything to pay for the French and Indian War. Yeah he didn’t like that so much. He became a Patriot, aka Continental, or American Whig, basically anyone who opposed British rule in the colonies. Revere became a leader in various politically active groups, like the North End Caucus, the Long Room Club, Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, and the Sons of Liberty. He became friends with fellow Patriots like Dr. Joseph Warren, James Otis, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams.

In 1770, Revere began delivering messages for the Boston’s committees of safety, who secretly took control of local government affairs away from royal officials. That same year, he published an engraving of a famous drawing of the Boston Massacre, an incident in which British troops set fire on Bostonians. Yep, this was effective propaganda meant to get folks riled up against the British.