Paul Revere's Ride By Franklin Johnson: Poem Analysis

Did you know that you might be believing false facts about Paul Revere? In the Poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow talks about Paul Revere and his midnight ride. In the article “How Accurate Was Longfellow’s Poem?” by Franklin Johnson talks about the false facts that Longfellow tells in his poem. In the other article “Paul Revere and the American Revolution” by Ethel Ames talks about his history and all the achievements of Paul Revere in his lifetime. Longfellow got a lot of historical events in Paul Revere's ride wrong because he says the Lantern was used to signal and to inform revere of the british route, but the lantern was really used to let others know if Revere had been captured. Another thing he got wrong was that he only mentioned Paul Revere going on the ride and didn’t mention Dawes and Prescott. He also talks about the purpose of the ride. He says the purpose of the ride was to warn the men that they were going to get captured, but the real meaning of it is to try to get people to stop slavery.

Longfellow states,” Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, on the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive.” Ames states,” A second rider, WIlliam Dawes, rode out to Lexington as well, via a different route. After the message was successfully delivered, Revere, Dawes, and the third rider, Samuel Prescott, went on to nearby Concord.” Longfellow is historically inaccurate because he had no mention in his poem to the two other riders that rode with Revere he only said that Revere