June 2, 2021 – Paul Revere (1734-1818) is famous for his midnight ride on April 18, 1775 from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British were coming to arrest them. The American Revolution was about to begin hours later with the first shots were fired in Lexington. Paul Revere is also famous for being a silversmith, an artisan who worked with gold and silver. Revere also had an interest in copper.

Paul Revere learned to be a silversmith from his father with whom he apprenticed. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, Paul Revere was a courier for the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety.

In 1773 in Boston, colonists, called Patriots, protested British governance and taxes by dumping an entire shipment of tea (about 45 tons) into the water. But years before in 1765, colonists strongly objected to a British Stamp Tax imposed on them by the British Parliament. Colonists fiercely objected to not having a voice in governance. Their rallying cry became, “No Taxation Without Representation.”

By 1773, their frustration with British taxes to fund the British military reached the boiling point. When colonists were forced to purchase tea with tariffs from the British East India Company, they boarded three ships on Dec. 16, 1773 and dumped 45 tons of tea into Boston Harbor.

American colonists began preparing to fight the British soldiers, called “redcoats” because of the color of their uniforms. Colonists began storing guns and gunpowder outside of Boston.

On April 18, 1775, rumors that the British were going to Lexington, Massachusetts to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams spread quickly among the colonists. Paul Revere was dispatched to warn them. Revere was told to look at the lights (lanterns) in the Old North Church. If there was one light on, the British were coming by land. If there were two lights on, they would be coming by sea. Revere saw two lanterns hanging in the church before he crossed the Charles River to start his midnight ride. “One if by land and two if by sea” is another famous phrase from the American Revolution made famous in an 1861 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Paul Revere’s Ride.

After the American Revolution, Revere successfully built his silversmith business making silverware and silver sets. In 1801, Revere decided to enter the copper rolling business because American manufacturers had to buy copper rolls from British companies. He sent his son to England to learn how the British rolled copper. In 1802, he supplied copper sheathing for work being done on the USS Constitution.

Revere died in 1818 at the age of 83. He lived through the War of 1812, the second and final time British and American troops clashed on land in the United States of America.

Recent Auction
On May 28, 2021, a rare table spoon, made by Revere and his company around 1790, sold at auction. It sold for the highest price ever paid for a spoon made in America. Heritage Auctions sold it for $32,500. The spoon was one item from a Revere collection that brought in a total of $336,250 at the auction.

The auction’s top lot was a Revere tankard, made circa 1790 and standing 10 inches high, which sold for $112,500.

“This was the largest number of his pieces ever sold in a single auction” said Karen Rigdon, Director of Silver and Fine and Decorative Arts at Heritage. “It was extremely exciting to bring this collection to auction and watch it perform so well.”

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. When and where was Paul Revere born?

2. How old was Paul Revere when he took his midnight ride?

3. Why did colonists oppose British rule?

4. When were the first shots fired starting the American Revolution?

5. How did Paul Revere learn to be a silversmith?

6. How did Revere expand his business?

INQUIRY QUESTIONS

1. Why do you think Paul Revere took his ride at midnight?

2. In a broader context, what has the phrase “one if by land and two if by sea” come to mean?

3. What evidence in the story suggests England and the United States were friendly toward one another in between the American Revolution and the War of 1812?

4. Through the links provided, read about Paul Revere’s life. Do you think he was “born with a silver spoon in his mouth?” Discuss the literal and figurative meanings of the phrase in the context of this article.

5. Why do you think silver items made by Paul Revere and his company while he was alive are so valuable even today?

6. Through the links on the chemical elements, what are the physical and chemical properties of silver, gold and copper that make these elements good choices to make silverware, pitchers, and jewelry?