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Who Fired the Shot Heard Round the World?
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Author: Elaine M. Price, Odenton Elementary, Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Grade Level: Upper Elementary/Middle
Duration: Two class periods
Overview:
The Battle of Lexington and Concord, on April 19, 1775, marked the first military engagement of the American Revolution. Colonists had gathered in the early morning on Lexington Green to prevent the approaching British troops from destroying guns and ammunition that were stored in nearby Concord. The gathered faction was ordered by the British to disperse, when "the shot heard around the world" was fired, and the American Revolution began. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this immortal line in his 1837 Concord Hymn, but, intriguingly, no one knows for certain who fired the fateful shot. Conflicting eyewitness accounts about the opening shot abound. In this lesson, students will determine who fired the first shot by reading and analyzing primary source documents. They will then use this evidence to defend their interpretations.
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