These words were written by @Henry @Wadsworth @Longfellow, a great @American poet. They are the beginning of a poem called "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," one of the best-known poems about the @Revolutionary War.
The midnight ride described in the poem happened a long time ago, over 225 years. The United States was not a country at that time. It was called @America, and it was made up of 13 individual colonies, all ruled by the king of @England, @George @III.
@Boston, @Massachusetts, was one of the major ports for the American colonies. Ships came in and out with food and other supplies, as well as thousands of English soldiers. The king had sent them there to make the Americans obey his laws, even if they didn't think those laws were fair. These soldiers guarded the streets of the city; they would not let any one go out or come in without their permission.
The people were very angry at the soldiers and at the king. They said, "We have a right to be free men, but the king treats us like slaves. He makes us pay taxes and gives us nothing in return. He sends soldiers among us to take away our liberty, and we have a right to be free!"
As the new laws and taxes made life more difficult and more expensive, the whole country got stirred up. Many brave men left their homes and hurried toward Boston to help the colonists in the city protest against the king and his laws.
They said, "We do not wish to fight against England, but we are free men, and the king must not send soldiers to oppress us. If the people of Boston must fight for their liberty, we will help them fight."
Many of the men set up camp in @Charlestown, a village near Boston. From the hills that looked over the city, they could watch and see what the king's soldiers were doing and make plans of their own.
They wished to be ready to defend themselves if the soldiers used force or tried to do them harm. For this reason they had bought some gunpowder and stored it at @Concord, nearly twenty miles outside of the city.
When the king's soldiers heard about this powder, they decided to go out to Concord and get it before the colonists could use it. The powder would also mean the soldiers would have more supplies for themselves if they should need to fight.
Among those camping at Charlestown was a young man named Paul Revere.
