Let me take you back in time
Hope you don’t mind
As I introduce you to a few good friends of mine
Who had a big effect on our history
Fought for liberty
Back in the 1770’s
Made us realize that we really didn’t need to be
Ruled by a king, but I don’t think that he agreed
He was busy making trouble for the colonies
Doing what he could to control of our economy
He tried the Sugar Act
Then the Stamp Act
The Declaratory Act
We didn’t like that
Starting fighting back
We sent letters to the king
To say, “What’s up with that?”
The king wanted to tax us
But he didn’t even ask us
Redcoat soldiers came on over to harass us
Made the Sons of Liberty a little upset
‘Cause the king wasn’t showing us any respect
But the real fighting hadn’t even started yet
And no one really knew just how bad it would get
Over in Boston
Things really got hot
‘Cause the colonists were baggin’ on the Redcoats a lot
Didn’t like that the king sent a bunch over here
It really bothered Sam Adams and Paul Revere
They wanted all the Redcoats to just disappear
1770, that was the year
When some Redcoats who were standing outside
Started shooting at some colonists
And five of them died
They called it a massacre
But it wasn’t that bad
The Sons of Liberty only wanted to make people mad
And then
It happened again
In Boston
I’m trying to recall just when
See I was just a cute little boy back then
It was a cold dark night
In the middle of December
1773 – see I remember
The Sons of Liberty
Quick and quietly
Climbed aboard the boat that was carrying all the British tea
And dressed like Indians
They dumped it into the sea
Then they went home
Rather nonchalantly
The king back in England
Was really mad
When he heard about the party that the colonists had
He said “O.K.
You want to play that way?
I’m going to make some new laws
That you better obey
Until you repay
All my tea that you threw away
Complain if you want
But I don’t care what you say.”
They were called the Coercive Acts
The colonists called them the Intolerable Acts
Either way everybody got really mad
And especially in Boston things got really bad
So the colonies
For the first time in history
Met in Philadelphia
To discuss how to respond to these
Laws
That were making a mess
In Boston, giving the colonists stress
They called this meeting the First Continental Congress
And then the big event
Pay attention boys and girls
As I tell you ‘bout the shot that was heard round the world.
The Redcoats were looking for the Colonists’ guns
When they came upon a town called Lexington
And there out to meet them were about 70 men
There to defend
Their homes and that’s when
Somebody fired a shot
And that’s when the Redcoats believe it or not
Started shooting
And many colonists got
Hit
And eight of them died
Nobody was killed on the British side
But pretty soon people from all around the countryside
Came by to give the Redcoats a big surprise
They were hiding behind rocks and trees
Looking over fences shooting from their knees
At the Redcoats who started running fast
‘Cause they had never fought an enemy quite like that
Many were killed trying to get back
To Boston. They didn’t expect this attack
It was bad
It was the worst day the Redcoats in Boston ever had
That one shot heard at Lexington
Led to the American Revolution
The war that made a hero of George Washington
Here’s the answer to a question on the test – we won
So
There you go
Now you know
The information
Join the celebration
You know a little more
About the birth of this nation
And I think I deserve a standing ovation
‘Cause that’s the end
Of my little presentation.