The holiday commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which took place on April 19, 1775. These engagements marked the first armed conflicts of the American Revolutionary War and represented the initial organized colonial military resistance against British forces. It is a statutory holiday in Massachusetts, Maine, and Wisconsin, observed on the third Monday in April.
The events of that day began with a British expedition from Boston to seize military supplies stored by the colonial militia in Concord and to potentially arrest Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Tipped off by an intelligence network, Patriot messengers, including Paul Revere and William Dawes, rode to warn local militias. The first confrontation occurred on Lexington Green, where a small group of minutemen faced a much larger British force, resulting in the "shot heard 'round the world" and the first casualties of the war. The British troops then proceeded to Concord, where they were engaged by a larger colonial force at the North Bridge. The subsequent retreat of the British regulars to Boston was marked by continuous, effective guerilla-style attacks from Patriot militiamen along the route.
The commemoration of these battles signifies the pivotal moment when political dissent in the American colonies escalated into open warfare for independence. Modern observances often include historical reenactments of the battles and of Paul Revere's ride, preserving the memory of these foundational events. The day is also famously associated with the running of the Boston Marathon, a contemporary civic tradition that has become intertwined with the holiday's themes of endurance and community spirit.
