April 19 was the Battle of Lexington and the shot heard round the world--all done by the Massachusetts Militia (founded in 1636) who couldn't wait for the 2d Continental Congress to do something. Nor for a Declaration of Independence. Other Americans were so astounded by what the Massachusetts Militia did, they did things like name their Kentucky camping grounds Lexington (now the 2d largest city in Kentucky) within weeks of April 19, 1775.Originally Posted by Slasher9
That said, I would hesitate to connect that amazing history to anything going on at the Trop tonight.
I was born at Fort Banks (now gone, but close to Boston) and both my parents grew up in Massachusetts--one in Agawam and the other in West Newton--but neither they nor I nor my 5 siblings went back to MA except for one year, 1953-54 when the old man was overseas.
So I can't really call myself a New Englander, but as an American am both proud of and astounded by what our forebearers achieved.
About 8 years later GW resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon, and 4 years after that presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention which quickly wrote our defining document. 23 of the 40 signers had served in the Continental Army. Unfortunately, they failed to live up to the Declaration of Independence ("we hold these truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal") and to banish slavery, but it was still one of the great documents in history.
