On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, Massachusetts delegates John Adams and Sam Adams dined with Joseph Reed, who was one of the leading Patriots of Pennsylvania, albeit not a delegate in Congress. Adams recorded in his diary that Reed “says the Sentiments of People here, are growing more and more favourable every day.” Also on that day in Philadelphia, Silas Deane, one of the Delegates from Connecticut to the Continental Congress, wrote to his wife Elizabeth about his impressions of George Washington. Deane said that Washington had “an easy Soldierlike Air,” and spoke “very modestly, & in cool but determined Style & Accent.”

Sources: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=adams%20diary%20Dates-From%3A1774-09-01&s=1111311111&r=1&sr=; https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/10/wannabe-redcoat-rebel-george-washingtons-journey-revolution/#_ednref34

And on this day 250 years ago in London, William Lee wrote to his brother Richard Henry Lee, one of the delegates from Virginia in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. William Lee advised his brother to persuade Congress “to engage the Body of the people” and form “a Federal Union with all the Colonies.”

Source: Norton, Mary Beth, 1774 the Long Year of Revolution at p. 190.

[Also on that day, Charity Clarke of New York City wrote to her cousin in England in defense of American rights saying:

You cannot deprive us, the Arms that support my family shall defend it. Though this body is not clad with silken Garments, these limbs are armed with strength, the soul is fortified by Virtue, and the love of Liberty is cherished within the bosom.

Source: Norton, Mary Beth, 1774 the Long Year of Revolution at p. 223.]

On this day 250 years ago, the Suffolk County Convention meeting in Milton, Massachusetts adopted the Suffolk Resolves. These 19 resolutions were drafted by Dr. Joseph Warren and were later adopted in large part by the Continental Congress. They were the most influential of the many resolutions adopted by counties and other local governments in response to the Intolerable Acts, and served as a catalyst to the Revolution in all 13 American colonies. Here are of the key resolutions:

2. That it is an indispensable Duty which we
   owe to GOD, our Country, Ourselves and Poste-
   rity, by all lawful Ways and Means in our Power,
   to maintain, defend and preserve those civil and
   religious Rights and Liberties for which many of
   our Fathers fought — bled — and died; and to
   hand them down entire to future Generations.
3. That the late Acts of the British Parliament
   for blocking up the Harbour of Boston, and for
   altering the established Form of Government in
   this Colony; and for screening the most flagitious
   Violators of the Laws of the Province from a legal
   Trial, are gross Infractions o f those Rights to
   which we are justly entitled by the Laws of Na-
   ture, the British Constitution, and the Charter of
   the Province.

4. That no Obedience is due from this Pro-
   vince to either or any Part of the Acts abovemen-
   tioned; but that they be rejected as the Attempts
   of a wicked Administration to enslave America.
5. That so long as the Justices of our Superior
   Courts of Judicature, Court of Assize, and General
   Goal Delivery, and Inferior Courts of Common
   Pleas in this County, are appointed, or hold their
   Places by any other Tenure than that which the
   Charter and the Laws of the Province direct;
   they must be considered as under undue Influence,
   and are therefore unconstitutional Officers, and as
   such no Regard ought to be paid to them by the
   People of this County.
6. That if the Justices of the Superior Court of
   Judicature Court of Assize, &c Justices of the Court
   of Common Pleas, or of the General Sessions of the
   Peace, shall sit and act during their present dis-
   qualified State this County will support and bear
   harmless all Sheriffs and their Deputies, Consta-
   bles, Jurors and other Officers, who shall refuse
   to carry into Execution the Orders of said Courts:
   And as far as is possible to prevent the Inconve-
   niencies that must attend the Suspension of the
   Courts of Justice, we do earnestly recommend it
   to all Creditors to exercise all reasonable and ge-
   nerous Forbearance to their Debtors, and to all
   Debtors to discharge their just Debts with all
   possible Speed, and if any Disputes concerning
   Debts or Trespasses shou’d arise, which cannot
   be setled by the Parties, we recommend it to them
   to submit all such Causes to Arbitration; and if
   the Parties or either of them shall refuse so to do,
   they ought to be considered as co-operating with
   the Enemies of this Country.
7. That it be recommended to the Collectors of
   Taxes, Constables and all other Officers who have
   publick Monies in their Hands, to retain the same,
   and not to make any Payment thereof to the Pro-
   vince or County Treasurers, untill the Civil Go-
   vernment of the Province is placed upon a consti-
   tutional Foundation, or untill it shall otherwise
   be ordered by the proposed Provincial Congress.
8. That the Persons who have accepted Seats
   at the Council Board by Virtue of a Mandamus
   from the King, in Conformity to the late Act of
   the British Parliament, entitled, “An Act for regu-
   lating the Government of the Massachusetts-Bay,”
   have acted in direct Violation of the Duty they
   owe to their Country, and have thereb y given
   great and just Offence to this People. Therefore,
   Resolved. That this County do recommend it
   to all Persons who have so highly offended by
   accepting said Department, and have not already
   publickly resigned their Seats at the Council Board,
   to make publick Resignations of their Places at
   said Board, on or before the TWENTIETH Day
   of this Instant September; and that all Persons
   neglecting so to do shall from and after said Day
   be considered by this County as obstinate and in-
   corrigible Enemies to this Colony.
9. That the Fortifications begun and now car-
   rying on upon Boston Neck are justly alarming to
   this County, and give us Reason to apprehend
   some hostile Intention against that Town, more
   especially as the Commander in Chief has in a
   very extraordinary Manner removed the Powder
   from the Magazine at Charlestown, and has also
   forbidden the Keeper of the Magazine at Boston
   to deliver out to the Owners the Powder which
   they had lodged in said Magazine.
10. That the late Act of Parliament for esta-
    blishing the Roman Catholic Religion, and the
    French Laws in that extensive Country now call-
    ed Canada, is dangerous in an extreme Degree
    to the Protestant Religion, and to the civil Rights
    and Liberties of all America; and therefore as
    Men and Protestant Christians we are indispensi-
    bly obliged to take all proper Measures for our
    Security.
11. That whereas our Enemies have flattered
    themselves that they shall make an easy Prey of
    this numerous, brave and hardy People, from an
    Apprehension that they are unacquainted with
    military Discipline, We therefore for the Honor,
    Defence and Security of this County and Province
    advise it has been recommended to take away
    all Commissions from the Officers of the Militia,
    that those who now hold Commissions or such
    other Persons be elected in each Town as Officers
    in the Militia as shall be judged of sufficient Ca-
    pacity for that Purpose, and who have evidenced
    themselves the inflexible Friends to the Rights of
    the People, and that the Inhabitants of those
    Towns and Districts who are qualified do use their utmost Diligence to acquaint themselves with the Art of War as soon as possible, and do for that Pur-pose appear under Arms at least once every Week.

12. That during the present hostile Appear-
    ances on the Part of Great-Britain, notwithstand-
    ing the many Insults and Oppressions which we
    most sensibly resent; yet nevertheless from our
    Affection to his Majesty which we have at all Times
    evidenced; we are determined to act merely upon
    the Defensive, so long as such Conduct may be
    vindicated by Reason and the Principles of Self-
    preservation, but no longer .
13. That as we understand it has been in Con-
    templation to apprehend sundry Persons of this
    County who have rendered themselves conspicu-
    ous in contending for the violated Rights and Li-
    berties of their Countrymen, we do recommend,
    that, shou’d such an audacious Measure be put in
    practice, to seize and keep in safe Custody every
    Servant of the present tyrannical and unconstitu-
    tional Government throughout the County and
    Province, untill the Persons so apprehended be
    liberated from the Hands of our Adversaries, and
    restored safe and uninjured to their respective
    Friends and Families.

Sources: https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=696&img_step=1&mode=dual

https://hamilton.gilderlehrman.org/supporting-document/suffolk-resolves-1774

But the most radical idea was voiced by the most conservative delegate at the Continental Congress. Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania stated

I have ever thought We might reduce our Rights to one. An Exemption from all Laws made by British Parliament, made since the Emigration of our Ancestors. It follows therefore that all the Acts of Parliament made since, are Violations of our Rights.

Although Galloway further said “I am well aware that my Arguments tend to an Independency of the Colonies,” making the first mention of”Independency” in the Congress, that would be a bridge too far for him. Rather than sign on to the Declaration of Independence, Galloway refused election to the Second Continental Congress and joined the British in 1776.

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=adams%20diary%20Dates-From%3A1774-09-01&s=1111311111&r=1&sr=

Also on that day 250 years ago the Committee of Mechanicks of Boston wrote to the Committee of Mechanicks of New York City:

GENTLEMEN: General Gage being determined to cut off the communication of this town with the country, by fortifying the sole pass between them, by land, has applied to several tradesmen in this town, and found none base enough to engage in so villainous an enterprise. And it is now said he intends to apply to New-York for workmen to complete his designs. Our tradesmen, therefore, apprehending that your zeal for the common safety is not less to be depended upon than their own, requested us to give you the earliest intimation of the matter, that you might take your measures accordingly.

We cannot entertain a doubt but the tradesmen of New-York win treat an application of this kind as it deserves. The subject is of the last importance; and for any one part of America to shew a readiness to comply with measures destructive of any other part, will inevitably destroy that confidence so necessary to the common salvation.

Source: https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-amarch%3A101585

On this day 250 years ago, Rev. Jacob Duché of Christ Church in Philadelphia gave the convocation prayer at the First Continental Congress:

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Source: https://chaplain.house.gov/archive/continental.html

Later on this day 250 years ago, the Continental Congress appointed a Committee to draft a declaration “to state the rights of the Colonies in general, the several instances in which these rights are violated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them.” 

Source: https://www.usconstitution.net/intol-html/

Worcester Revolt

Source:

On September 6, 1774 in the First Continental Congress at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Patrick Henry delivered a famous speech declaring “Fleets and armies and the present state of things shew that Government is dissolved. Where are your landmarks? your boundaries of colonies? The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.”

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/bold-meeting-250-years-ago-continental-congress-set-america-in-motion-180984908/

The most important events in the Revolution 250 years ago on September 6 were happening in Massachusetts, rather than in Philadelphia. In Worcester, 4,622 men, half the adult male population of Worcester County, assembled to block the quarterly session of the Court of General Sessions and the Court of Common Pleas. Separate militia companies from 37 towns in sprawling Worcester County had marched, without arms, to Worcester. The militia companies formed along both sides of Main Street in a quarter-mile long line stretching the courthouse to Heywood’s tavern. Two dozen court officials—judges, justices of the peace, court attorneys, and others who had been appointed by the Crown or Royal Governor — had been confined in the tavern while representatives from each militia company negotiated with them to resign from their appointments. That afternoon each official walked down the street and recited his formal recantation to the each of the 37 militia companies. They all pledged “that all judicial proceeding be stayed . . . on account of the unconstitutional act of Parliament . . . which, if effected, will reduce the inhabitants to mere arbitrary power.” As a result of the bloodless Worcester Revolt, British rule ended in Worcester County and within weeks it would disappear from the rest of Massachusetts outside of Boston.

Also on that day in Richard Woodward’s tavern in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Suffolk County Convention met. All sixty towns in the County including Boston were represented in the meeting. The Suffolk Convention named a committee led by Dr. Joseph Warren to draft resolutions that would emerge three days later as the Suffolk Resolves.

Sources:https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/03/country-crowds-revolutionary-massachusetts-mobs-militia/#_edn19; https://www.historynet.com/the-spirit-of-74/; https://massar.org/setting-the-record-straight-the-worcester-revolt-of-september-6-1774/; https://hamilton.gilderlehrman.org/supporting-document/suffolk-resolves-1774; https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/suffolk-resolves/

On this day 250 years ago, the first Continental Congress convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eleven of the thirteen colonies had delegates present — Georgia did not send delegates to the Congress and the North Carolina delegation had not yet arrived. As its first order of business the Congress elected Peyton Randolph of Virginia as President and Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania as Secretary of the Congress.

Thomson, who emigrated from Ireland as an orphan after his widowed father died on the ship bringing his young sons to America, would serve continuously as Secretary of each Continental Congress until April 1789, the only person to hold that post. Thomson’s name would appear on the Declaration of Independence as the second to sign after John Hancock, and he personally safeguarded the Declaration and all the papers of Congress throughout the Revolution. Yet he is not usually regarded as a Signer or as one of the Founding Fathers. Charles Thomson was an unsung hero of the Revolution who needs to be remembered and celebrated by all Americans. Fortunately this weekend in Philadelphia there are commemorations that will help celebrate his contributions to American Independence.

https://declaration.fas.harvard.edu/blog/november-thomson; https://www.carpentershall.org/my-zeal-for-liberty;

Each weekend beginning this Saturday, September 7 through October 2024, Carpenters’ Hall will be hosting reenactments of events in the First Continental Congress. https://www.carpentershall.org/building-independence-historical-reenactments Also this weekend, September 7-8, 2024, the Emerging Revolutionary War bloggers will be posting live videos from Philadelphia to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the First Continental Congress. https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2024/09/05/250th-anniversary-of-the-first-continental-congress/?

On this day 250 years ago in Boston John Adams’s law clerk Edward Hill wrote to John Adams to supplement the report from William Tudor the previous day:

Many people were disappointed that the Bar did not refuse to go on with any Business. An Advertisement was posted up at the Court house threatning death to any one of the Bar who should appear at Court to do any Business. One of those was posted upon the Door of the Offices of both the Quincys.

I cannot omit mentioning that I was present when the People assembled at Cambridge; and never saw men who appear’d so determined to pursue the measures they had plan’d. They were dress’d just as they are at work. Every man appeared as composed as if they were at a funeral. I saw many among them whom I should judge were 60 and 70 years of age.

…

The following are the names of those of the Council who took the oaths but have since refused—(Voluntarily) A. Oliver Esq., Colo. Watson, Isaac Winslow, Jos. Lee, Saml. Danforth, J. Simpson, T. Hutchinson junr.—(by compulsion) Timo. Paine, A. Willard, Thos. Oliver.2 Messrs. Lee and Danforth were obliged to declare their having resigned in person to the Body at Cambridge — it is expected that not one will hold out a week longer.

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%224%20September%201774%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr=

Also on this day 250 years ago, George Washington arrived in Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress. Washingtom stayed at the home of Dr. William Shippen Jr. Shippen would later serve as the chief physician and director-general of the Medical Corps of the Continental Army. This house remains standing in Philadelphia today.

Sources: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%224%20September%201774%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=3&sr=; https://www.ushistory.org/districts/societyhill/shipp.htm

On this day 250 years ago in Boston, William Tudor, an associate of John Adams, wrote Adams about how the Patriots were shutting down the Royal courts in Massachusetts:

This Week has been fruitfull of extraordinary Transactions. . . . Tuesday the Superior Court opened . . . . When the grand Jury were called upon to be sworn they all to a Man refus’d taking the Oath, for Reasons committed to Paper, which they permitted the Court, after some Altercation, to read. The Petit Jury unanimously followed the Example of the Grand Jury; their Reasons together with the others You will read in the Masstts. Spy. . . . This Morning there were a Number of printed Bills stuck up at the Court house and other Parts of the Town, threatening certain Death to any and all the Bar who should presume to attend the Superior Court then sitting. At ten o Clock the Court met (Oliver absent). All the new enter’d Actions were ordered to be continued, as there was no Jury to try them. . . . Thus ended the Superior Court and is the last common Law Court that will be allowed to sit in this or any other County of the Province. The Proceedings of the Inhabitants of the Counties of Worcester and Middlesex in County meeting assembled [which shut down courts there] will be sent You. A similar Spirit prevails everywhere else. You will see [Royal officials] Phips’s, Mason’s, Goldthwait’s and Price’s Declarations of doing no Business under the unconstitutional Acts, in the public Papers—which I should have taken Care to have forwarded you, had I not been assur’d that some Gentlemen of the Committee of Congress had made Provision that each of your Bretheren with yourself should receive by every Opportunity.

The present State of this Province will lead to the Discussion of a most important Question, and which may not be unsuitable for the Contemplation of the Congress. On the one hand, the Execution of the Acts of Parliament never will be suffered; on the other, this Refusal, which involves in it an intire Stoppage of every Court of Law and a Dismission of all executive public Officers, may plunge Us in Anarchy and Confusion. The People are eager to have Recourse to the first Charter, or adopt some new Mode of Government. Our last Charter is vacated and the Province reduced to a State of Nature. Can there ever be a more favourable Opportunity than the present for claiming, resuming and maintaining the Rights of Mankind, for a thorough Discussion, Definition and Confirmation of them. Great Britain, by her despotic Edicts, has forced Us to the Alternative of either becoming Slaves, or recurring to the Principles of Nature for Protection. Society cannot subsist without Courts of Law and executive Officers. We are Slaves if Acts of Parliament are to regulate our internal Policy, and the Inconveniences we must combat, before a Restoration of our Liberties can be made Us, are too great to brook. What, tell Us, Ye wise Men, what is to be done?

. . .

Half of our sworn Enemies have resign’d their Seats at the Board, and such a Pannic has seiz’d the rest, that we expect before this Day Week his Excellency will be left without a single Member of his Divan. The Traitors find, that neither Greaves [Graves] with his Fleet, nor Gage with his Army and Castle, can insure them Protection from the Fury of their abused Countrymen.

The noble Enthusiasm which has seiz’d the Breasts of our Country­men is as diffusive as it is extraordinary. I will give you one Instance of it, among many others. When our indignant Bretheren march’d to Rutland the other Day, with a Design to make Colo. Murray resign his execrable Post, or force him to fly the County, among several other white headed Sires who compos’d the patriotic Band, there was one eighty Years old, who insisted on accompanying them. They endeavoured to persuade him from it. Told him they did not doubt his Affection to the Cause, and wish’d for his Prayers. But should they meet with Opposition, as his Arm was now nerveless, he would be Expos’d to Hazard without a Possibility of being serviceable. “I will go,” reply’d the heroic old Man, “and shall think myself happy to receive the Ball, which, should I not be there might kill a better Man! “

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%223%20September%201774%22&s=1111311121&sa=&r=2&sr=

William Tudor would later join the Continental Army and serve as the Judge Advocate General with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel until 1778, and was subsequently elected as a State Representative, State Senator and Secretary of the Commowealth of Massachusetts.

On this day 250 years ago, Patriots estimated to total from 2000 to more than 20,000, occupied the towns of Charlestown (now Somerville) and Cambridge, Massachusetts in response to the Powder Alarm. The assembled crowd demanded and received the resignation of royal officials who lived in Cambridge including Lieutenant Governor Thomas Oliver and Judges Samuel Danforth and Joseph Lee who were all members of the Governor’s Mandamus Council. They also chased the despised tax collector, Benjamin Hallowell, from town on horseback into Boston. The supposed commander of the Colony’s militia General William Brattle and Attorney General Jonathan Sewell likewise fled to Boston.

Recognizing that all of Massachusetts had risen to oppose his plans to seize gunpowder and military stores in the colony, Governor Gage wrote Lord Dartmouth, secretary of state for the colonies, that although he had intended “to send a Body of Troops to Worcester, to protect the Courts there, . . . Disturbance being so general, and not confined to any particular Spot,” he did not know “where to send them to be of Use.” Sending soldiers to enforce royal authority in Massachusetts outside of Boston would require “dividing them in small Detachments, and tempt Numbers to fall upon them, which was reported to be the Scheme of the Directors of these Operations.” Gage assumed that the assembled crowds of Patriots were all being directed by Sam Adams, Joseph Warren and the Patriot leaders when in fact the risings were all spontaneous and actually surprised and to some extent alarmed the Patriot leadership.

Also on this day 250 years ago in Braintree, Massachusetts Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John in Philadelphia concerning the events in Cambridge:

I own I feel not a little agitated with the accounts I have this day received from Town. Great commotions have arisen in concequence of the discovery of a Tratorous plot of Colonel Brattle’s—his advice to Gage to Break every commisiond officer, and to seize the province and Towns Stock of powder.3 This has so enraged and exasperated the people that there is great apprehension of an immediate rupture. They have been all in flames ever since the new fangled counsellors have taken their oaths. The importance with which they consider the meeting of the Congress, and the result thereof to the community, withholds the arm of vengance already lifted but which would most certainly fall with accumalated wrath upon Brattle were it posible to come at him, but no sooner did he discover that his treachery had taken air, than he fled not only to Boston, but into the camp for Safety.

Sources: https://www.americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/rebellion/text2/oliverloyalistsviolence.pdf; https://historycambridge.org/Cambridge-Revolution/Brattle%20House.html; https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/03/country-crowds-revolutionary-massachusetts-mobs-militia/#_edn19; https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%222%20September%201774%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr=

The National Park Service, History Cambridge, the Somerville Museum, and other Massachusetts organizations will be commemorated the Powder Alarm at the Powder House and other locations in Cambridge and Somerville starting today, September 2, 2024 with a lecture on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/news/events-in-cambridge-and-somerville-mark-the-250th-anniversary-of-the-powder-alarm.htm

Also on this day 250 years ago, George Washington, Edmund Pendleton and Patrick Henry arrived at Rock Hall, Maryland on their way to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. They “lodged at New Town on the Chester” and the next day they had “Breakfast at Down’s (Galena).”

The Key to Kent County History

Early in the morning on this day 250 years ago, approximately 260 British regulars removed a large quantity of gunpowder owned by the King from the Powder House in Charlestown (now Somerville), Massachusetts. Once the ammunition was removed, most of the regulars returned to Boston by boat but a small detachment marched through the adjacent town of Cambridge, seized two field pieces, and took them back to Boston. Word spread quickly across Massachusetts that the British soldiers had removed the gunpowder, but the story was embellished with fictional details that they stole the powder, had shot and killed colonials, the British Navy was bombarding the city, and Boston was on fire. By nightfall the exaggerated story had reached Shrewsbury, 40 miles west of Boston. Thousands of Patriots began streaming into Charlestown and Cambridge from across Massachusetts. That night mobs surrounded the homes of two prominent Loyalists in Cambridge, General William Brattle, commander of the colony’s militia, and Attorney General Jonathan Sewell forcing both to flee to Boston the next day. By the next day Cambridge and Charlestown were filled with enraged Massachusetts Patriots before they learned that the facts of the Powder Alarm had been greatly exaggerated.

The National Park Service, History Cambridge, the Somerville Museum, and other Massachusetts organizations will be commemorated the Powder Alarm at the Powder House and other locations in Cambridge and Somerville starting today, September 1, 2024 with additional events tomorrow September 2, and Wednesday, September 4, 2024. https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/news/events-in-cambridge-and-somerville-mark-the-250th-anniversary-of-the-powder-alarm.htm

Sources: Norton, Mary Beth, 1774, The Long Year of Revolution at 181-182; https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2024/08/30/war-war-war-was-the-cry-the-250th-anniversary-of-the-powder-alarm/; https://thehistoryjunkie.com/powder-alarm-facts/