Do you ever think about what starts a war? Some of the wars in history officially started for ridiculous reasons (War of Jenkins Ear comes to mind). Then there are wars like the American Revolution. There’s not a single cause, and in many ways, they tried for so long not to start a war. The first battle of Lexington and Concord wasn’t intended to be a battle by either side and yet it was. Let’s look at how that happened in this history lesson.
Supplies for Lexington and Concord lesson
these are affiliate links
Time Travelers: American Revolution, American and British soldiers, index cards (I can’t find the ones I always order)
Step by step in the Battle of Lexington and Concord
The militias had been warned in time, and were ready and waiting for the approaching British soldiers.
The British soldiers approached eagerly. They were sure the colonists would surrender at the first sign of a soldier, no shots would be fired and their victory was assured.
Meanwhile, the colonists had been joined by a medieval knight, who was armed with a crossbow and was twice as tall as everyone else.
The soldiers kept approaching and the colonists realized this was a moment that would make history, but they were ordered not to fire, maybe it could be talked out if everyone remained calm.
But someone didn’t listen. No one knows for sure who fired the first shot, but shots were fired and there were casualties on both sides. The British and Americans left the battle with no clear winner, but obviously at war.
The British troops continued on to Concord, this time the Colonists were aided by a zombie spearman. He is formidable in battle.
But again everyone’s hopes were dashed as shots were fired yet again.
I was really impressed at how well my kids remembered all of this lesson, some of it was from reading it, but most of it was from watching Liberty Kids. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s currently available on Netflix streaming or you can buy the DVDs (which we have done). It gives a very accurate and unbiased (there is a main character who represents the British side) view of the whole thing from the Boston Tea Party all the way to the signing of Constitution.
Jeff and I have watched pretty much all of them with the kids and have gotten into arguments about whether it was accurate, and then looked it up and discovered they were right and we were wrong.
So, I’m gonna link up to All Things Beautiful, and Journey to Excellence.
More travels in American history
Originally published Nov 11, 2011
What fun!
I need to have the younger children watch Liberty's Kids again – I doubt they remember it from the last time we watched through – it is a very good series. I wish there were more like it.
I want to watch Liberty Kids with Anna one day – I am sure I will learn a lot of American history that way 🙂
You already know we like Liberty Kids! We watch it on Netflix together as a family on the weekends – and we all learn a lot!
If you're ever in Massachusetts, you have to stop by Concord – you can see where all of this took place!
Great idea to use the toy soldiers! Love the landscaping too. We watched a bit of Liberty Kids last year and K still remembers it!
Was the zombie in the video too? 😉
This is a wonderful lesson… and I'm interested in those videos now. Your kids seems a bit more ok with violence than Matthew is (haha, that is not a judgement about parenting skills at all, really I'm jealous!)- are the videos very violent??
I am so looking forward to using these videos. LOVE your reenactments.
Love it! What a fun way to learn about the Revolutionary War times (especially for boys)!
We just discovered Liberty Kids on You Tube! The kids are really enjoying them!
Thanks for stopping by!
This looks like so much fun 🙂
Liberty's Kids is a GREAT series!!
Thanks for linking to Favorite Resources.
I will have to look into Liberty Kids. I never heard of it. Great lesson!
I bet your boys loved reenacting this scene! I've never heard of this video series, but I'm off to check on it. Thanks!
Little Wonders' Days
We are studying American History this year, so we should watch these again. I know we watched one or two a few years ago, but now the kids will have a deeper understanding. Thanks for the info. and the little toy soldiers are a fabulous idea!