Name
Class
Date
History and Geography
The American Revolution
Early Battles Around Boston
The first battles of the Revolutionary War were fought in and around
Boston, Massachusetts. Study the map below. Then complete the activity and answer the questions that follow.
The Fighting Around Boston, 1773–1776
LEGEND:
Apr. 18–19, 1775 routes
R
Revere
P
Prescott D Dawes
Br
British
REVERE AND DAWES
ARRESTED;
SAMUEL PRESCOTT
CONTINUES RIDE
April 18, 1775
Scale: 1 inch = 4 miles (approx.)
CLASH BETWEEN
BRITISH AND
AMERICANS
Apr. 19, 1775
Concord
•
CLASH BETWEEN
BRITISH AND
AMERICANS
Apr. 19, 1775
• Bedford
• Burlington
• Stoneham
Menotomy
• Waltham
Newton
•
• Wakefield
• Woburn
• Lexington
• Melrose
Medford
WASHINGTON
TAKES COMMAND
July 5, 1775
• Watertown
Powder
House
PAUL REVERE’S
RIDE
Apr. 18, 1775
• Malden
a
800 BRITISH
TO CONCORD
Apr. 18, 1775
Brookline
•
a
BATTLE OF
BUNKER HILL
June 17, 1775
Cambridge
• Brighton
WILL DAWES’S
RIDE
Apr. 18, 1775
Bunker Breed’s
Hill
Hill Charlestown
•
Boston
Beacon
Hill
• Roxbury
D
Old North
Church
Fort Hill
“TEA PARTY”
Dec. 16, 1773
12,000
BRITISH ARRIVE
March 1775
AMERICAN CANNON
CAUSE BRITISH
EVACUATION
March 17, 1776
Adapted from map “The Boston Region” from The Growth of the American Republic, Volume 1, 7/e, by Samuel
Eliot Morison, Henry Steele Commager, and William E. Leuchtenburg. Copyright © 1980 by Oxford University
Press, Inc. Rerinted by permission of the publisher.
MAP ACTIVITY
1. Use a bright color to trace the route Paul Revere took on April 18–19, 1775.
2. Circle the names of the two waterways that Will Dawes crossed on his ride from
Beacon Hill to Cambridge.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
24
The American Revolution
Name
Class
Early Battles Around Boston, continued
Date
History and Geography
3. Use a second bright color to draw stars at the site of each clash or battle.
4. Use a dark color to trace the part of the route that Samuel Prescott rode alone
after the arrest of Paul Revere and Will Dawes.
ANALYZING MAPS
1. Sequence What is the first event shown on the map? What is the last event shown
on the map?
2. Place Where did the British land when they arrived in March 1775?
3. Movement Describe the route the British traveled to get to Concord.
4. Location Study the map and locate the Powder House, where the colonial militia
stored its gunpowder. Next, determine where British troops were concentrated
before April 1775. Why might the American militia have chosen to maintain the
Powder House at its location?
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
April 19 is a public holiday in Massachusetts called Patriots Day. Use
the library or search the Internet to find information about this holiday.
Then plan a Patriots Day celebration for your school.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
25
The American Revolution