The Patriots Day Parade
With this year's Patriots Day commemorating a doozy of an anniversary (it's the 250th of the Battles of Lexington and Concord to start the American Revolutionary War), locals and visitors alike await the annual Patriots Day Parade. Beginning at 9am on April 21 at City Hall Plaza and ending at about noon in the North End, the Marching units and dignitaries will travel from City Hall to Old Granary Burial Ground to follow a route that ends at the Paul Revere Mall. The parade concludes with a reenactment by the National Lancers of Paul Revere's famous midnight ride on the Paul Revere Mall in front of Old North Church and Historic Site. A brief speaking program will take place at Paul Revere Mall followed by the handing of the scrolls to 'Paul Revere' who will embark on the legendary ride of 1775.
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Time Out
21-04-2025
- Time Out
The Patriots Day Parade
With this year's Patriots Day commemorating a doozy of an anniversary (it's the 250th of the Battles of Lexington and Concord to start the American Revolutionary War), locals and visitors alike await the annual Patriots Day Parade. Beginning at 9am on April 21 at City Hall Plaza and ending at about noon in the North End, the Marching units and dignitaries will travel from City Hall to Old Granary Burial Ground to follow a route that ends at the Paul Revere Mall. The parade concludes with a reenactment by the National Lancers of Paul Revere's famous midnight ride on the Paul Revere Mall in front of Old North Church and Historic Site. A brief speaking program will take place at Paul Revere Mall followed by the handing of the scrolls to 'Paul Revere' who will embark on the legendary ride of 1775.
The Independent
19-04-2025
- The Independent
250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
The American Revolution began 250 years ago, in a blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial spin. Starting with Saturday's anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the country will look back to its war of independence and ask where its legacy stands today. The semiquincentennial comes as President Donald Trump, the scholarly community and others divide over whether to have a yearlong party leading up to July 4, 2026, as Trump has called for, or to balance any celebrations with questions about women, the enslaved and Indigenous people and what their stories reveal. The history of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts is half-known, the myth deeply rooted. What exactly happened at Lexington and Concord? Reenactors may with confidence tell us that hundreds of British troops marched from Boston in the early morning of April 19, 1775, and gathered about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) northwest on Lexington's town green. Firsthand witnesses remembered some British officers yelled, 'Thrown down your arms, ye villains, ye rebels!' and that amid the chaos a shot was heard, followed by 'scattered fire' from the British. The battle turned so fierce that the area reeked of burning powder. By day's end, the fighting had continued around 7 miles (11 kilometers) west to Concord and some 250 British and 95 colonists were killed or wounded. But no one has learned who fired first, or why. And the revolution itself was initially less a revolution than a demand for better terms. Woody Holton, a professor of early American history at the University of South Carolina, says most scholars agree the rebels of April 1775 weren't looking to leave the empire, but to repair their relationship with King George III and go back to the days preceding the Stamp Act, the Tea Act and other disputes of the previous decade. 'The colonists only wanted to turn back the clock to 1763,' he said. Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize winning historian whose books include biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams, said Lexington and Concord 'galvanized opinion precisely as the Massachusetts men hoped it would, though still it would be a long road to a vote for independence, which Adams felt should have been declared on 20 April 1775.' But at the time, Schiff added, 'It did not seem possible that a mother country and her colony had actually come to blows.' A fight for the ages The rebels had already believed their cause greater than a disagreement between subjects and rulers. Well before the turning points of 1776, before the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine's boast that 'We have it in our power to begin the world over again,' they cast themselves in a drama for the ages. The so-called Suffolk Resolves of 1774, drafted by civic leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, prayed for a life 'unfettered by power, unclogged with shackles,' a fight that would determine the 'fate of this new world, and of unborn millions.' The revolution was an ongoing story of surprise and improvisation. Military historian Rick Atkinson, whose 'The Fate of the Day' is the second of a planned trilogy on the war, called Lexington and Concord 'a clear win for the home team,' if only because the British hadn't expected such impassioned resistance from the colony's militia. The British, ever underestimating those whom King George regarded as a 'deluded and unhappy multitude,' would be knocked back again when the rebels promptly framed and transmitted a narrative blaming the royal forces. 'Once shots were fired in Lexington, Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren did all in their power to collect statements from witnesses and to circulate them quickly; it was essential that the colonies, and the world, understand who had fired first,' Schiff said. "Adams was convinced that the Lexington skirmish would be 'famed in the history of this country.' He knocked himself out to make clear who the aggressors had been.' A country still in progress Neither side imagined a war lasting eight years, or had confidence in what kind of country would be born out of it. The founders united in their quest for self-government but differed how to actually govern, and whether self-government could even last. Americans have never stopped debating the balance of powers, the rules of enfranchisement or how widely to apply the exhortation, 'All men are created equal.' 'I think it's important to remember that the language of the founders was aspirational. The idea that it was self-evident all men were created equal was preposterous at a time when hundreds of thousands were enslaved," said Atkinson, who cites the 20th-century poet Archibald MacLeish's contention that 'democracy is never a thing done.' 'I don't think the founders had any sense of a country that some day would have 330 million people," Atkinson said. 'Our country is an unfinished project and likely always will be.'
The Independent
23-10-2024
- The Independent
What has Donald Trump accused Keir Starmer's Labour of? US presidential campaign's complaint explained
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has launched an extraordinary attack on Keir Starmer's Labour as party officials are accused of interfering in the upcoming US election. Filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, the Trump-Vance campaign accused Labour of illegal foreign donations to rival Kamala Harris' campaign. Writing on Mr Trump's website, a spokesperson for the former president says: 'The far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala's dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.' The post contains several obvious references to the American Revolutionary War, fought in the 18th century, which resulted in the US gaining independence from Britain. Titled 'The British Are Coming!', the post begins: 'When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them…' Keir Starmer has attempted to play down the row, saying that he still has a 'good relationship' with Mr Trump, whom he has met with in the past. Here's everything you need to know about the row: What is the Labour Party accused of? Sending (and funding) activists to battleground states In its complaint to the FEC, the Trump campaign's deputy general counsel Gary Lawkowski accuses the Labour Party and the Harris-Walz campaign of 'making and accepting illegal foreign national contributions'. Explaining its position on Mr Trump's website, a spokesperson wrote: 'In recent weeks, [Labour] has recruited and sent party members to campaign for Kamala in critical battleground states, attempting to influence our election.' The Trump campaign's complaint raises a few issues. Firstly, they believe that the campaigning efforts of several Labour activists in the US are in breach of the country's electoral law. A key piece of evidence is a now-deleted LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, head of operations at the Labour Party, in which she says she has arranged for '100 Labour Party staff (current and former)' to travel to the key battleground states in the US. She adds that there are still '10 spots available' for North Carolina. A later email to Labour activists from Ms Patel on 2 August said: 'If anyone would be willing to travel to the US to 'help our friends across the pond elect their first female president'' and '[l]et's show those Yanks how to win elections!' Trump's campaign managers argue this constitutes a clear breach of the electoral law pertaining to the involvement of foreign nationals. Importantly, FEC rules do not ban foreign nationals from participating in campaign activities as an 'uncompensated volunteer'. Labour activists who sought to help with Ms Harris' campaign are understood to have been required to pay for their own flights and car hire. However, it is also reported Democrat volunteers provided accommodation to these activists and that Labour staff were expected to book annual leave for the duration of their trip. This is where the Trump complaint becomes slightly more speculative. Mr Lawkowski writes that the 'language' of Ms Patel's post supports 'reasonable inference' that these US visits were funded by the Labour Party. He also says the limited number of spaces said to be available for the North Carolina trip 'suggests scarcity, which in turn suggests an expenditure of resources'. Advising the Harris-Walz campaign The second element of the complaint suggests foreign nationals from the Labour Party are exercising control over parts of Ms Harris' presidential campaign. Mr Lawkowski points to reports that Labour Party staff who helped the party secure victory in July have been advising Ms Harris' team on electoral strategy. These include Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister's close ally and chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, Downing Street director of communications. Both are understood to have visited the Democratic National Convention in August, where they met with Ms Harris' campaign team. Veteran political adviser Deborah Mattinson, Sir Keir's director of strategy, is also reported to have met with Harris campaign representatives in September to advise on securing electoral victory. FEC rules state foreign nationals are 'prohibited from participating in decisions involving election-related activities'. The commission's guide says, for example, that 'a foreign national volunteer may attend committee events and campaign strategy meetings, but may not be involved in the management of the committee'. The complaint from the Trump campaign counsel alleges this is also illegal. Mr Lawkowski points to 'the similarity in messaging' between the Harris campaign and Labour's recent successful election campaign to support another 'reasonable inference' that the advice received has unduly influenced Harris team strategy. How has Labour responded? Responding to the complaint, Sir Keir told reporters: 'The Labour party … volunteers, have gone over pretty much every election. They're doing it in their spare time, they're doing it as volunteers, they're staying I think with other volunteers over there. 'That's what they've done in previous elections, that's what they're doing in this election and that's really straight-forward.' The prime minister also denies the episode has soured his relationship with Mr Trump, saying: 'I spent time in New York with President Trump, had dinner with him and my purpose in doing that was to make sure that between the two of us we established a good relationship, which we did, and we're grateful for him for making the time. 'We had a good, constructive discussion and, of course as prime minister of the United Kingdom I will work with whoever the American people return as their president in their elections which are very close now.' Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told BBC Breakfast: 'It's up to private citizens how they use their time and their money and it's not unusual for supporters of a party in one country to go and campaign for a sister party in another - it happens both ways round and across many, many countries. 'But none of this was organised or funded by the Labour Party itself, these are individual people making their own choices as they are free to do.'
