Symbols of The American Revolution
Google Maps labels the Old North Church as the “launch point for Paul Revere’s ride.” Herein lies the irony – how did a church that had such strong ties to the British become the very start of the American Revolution? Granted, calling the Old North Church the “start” of the Revolution may be a bit of an overstatement, though it did certainly play an undeniable role in Paul Revere’s famed midnight ride, which led to that famous first gunshot in Lexington.
On April 18, 1775, a vestryman, Captain John Pulling, Jr., went to the church sexton (caretaker), Robert Newman, and together the two ascended the church’s steeple – an entire 8.5 stories consisting of stairs, ladders, and trap doors – in pitch darkness. When they reached the top, they lit two lanterns for less than a minute, sending a signal to Paul Revere that the British were approaching by sea.
In turn, Paul Revere rode to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock of the impending British arrival, leading to the American’s preparation overnight and the ensuing Battles of Lexington and Concord.
In each of these men's stories, the church came to play a different role. Together (borrowing de Certeau's words) they came to punch and tear open the created order, quite literally. The existence of Boston as a colony was forever challenged and changed.
Even in 1979, the church continued to be a site where individuals came and built upon other layers of history. Re-enactments of the two men's 8.5 floor climb took place frequently, including the one depicted in this photograph, featuring two fifth generation descendants of Robert Newman. The climb with the lanterns became symbolic of the rupture in American history that led to the Revolution and it was a rupture that was continuously revisited and torn open.
However, the Old North Church isn’t an urban palimpsest merely from its role in history. The layers that have been erased and written over are most clearly evident when we turn to the poem that made Paul Revere’s ride famous: ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. While the poem spoke of an event that occurred in 1775, the poem itself was not written until 1860! This was the year before the American Civil War began. Longfellow had actually intended the poem to be a form of propaganda, encouraging people to sign up to be a part of the Civil War movement.
Ultimately, most people in today’s world learn about Paul Revere’s ride from a poem that is – in and of itself – incredibly historically significant as well! Many know the poem only as a story of the Revolution, failing to recognize that the poem itself consists of two layers: the Revolution and the Civil War movement.
If we return to de Certeau's quote and we label the contents of this poem as a moment of rupture, the poem itself and its intent represent yet another moment of rupture in the history of the church.
Additionally, one of the best guides to the Old North Church is a book entitled A visit to the “Old North Church,” Boston, Mass. This book was published in 1893, and here I was sitting in 2016, reading this book to learn about a place I had just visited.