In 1860, less than one hundred years after the event on which it is based, Paul Revere's Midnight Ride was immortalized in a children's poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem became an instant classic and is best remembered by the opening line, "Hear my children and you shall hear, of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride." Written at a time when the United States was on the brink of civil war, it contained accurate accounts of what happened that night, however it was a children's poem, so many events were distorted and dramatized. The most important being, Paul Revere, was not alone in his "Midnight Ride", as the poem says. William Dawes Jr. and Dr. Samuel Prescott also rode with him that night. Whatever the reason for not mentioning them, Americans would have forgotten about their sacrifices that night if it weren't for this classic children's poem. The historical fact remains that the Midnight Ride crafted by Revere, Dawes, and Prescott played an important role in pre-Revolutionary Boston. The true events of what happened on April 18, 1775 will forever be etched in the pages of American history. After a decade of political and social disputes between the American colonies and the British government, war seemed inevitable. The Continental Congress attempted to reach a political compromise, but British taxes along with the growing presence of British regulars (soldiers) in the colonies were fueling talk of rebellion and the colonists' greater need for independence. The deterioration of relations between the two came to a head on the evening of December 16, 1773, when sixty men disguised as Indians boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and proceeded to destroy and throw overboard more than 300 chests of British treasure. . half of the paper ......ion. Without the sacrifices of Revere, Dawes, and Prescott that night, the British might have captured or killed Adams and Hancock and seized vital military supplies and lost the Revolutionary War before it even began. Works Cited Caes, Charles J. 2004. “MIDNIGHT CAVALIERI. American History, December 2004, 34-41.http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/ (accessed October 27, 2009). Henretta, James A., and David Brody. America: A Concise History, Volume I: To 1877. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Paul Revere's Midnight Ride." The National Center for Public Policy Research. http://www.nationalcenter.org/PaulRevere'sRide.html (accessed October 26, 2009). Paul Revere Memorial Association. “The Midnight Ride”. Paul Revere's house. http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/ (accessed October 26, 2009).