"'One' if by Land; 'Two' if by Sea"!!! As articulated by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the expression "'one' if by land and 'two' if by sea" was the secret signal of Paul Revere to place either one or two lanterns in the Old North Church, in order to alert the colonists about the impending British attack.
In the wake of the Boston Massacre, an enormous propaganda campaign ensued, as apparent in the exaggerated effect of Paul Revere's famous engraving of the incident. John Adams, the most brilliant legal mind in Massachusetts, is the defense attorney for Captain Preston and the British soldiers. Adams' character is defined by principle and ambition.
At the trial, Adams calls Dr. Palms as a key witness on King Street. And Patrick Carr's deathbed confession (hearsay evidence accepted in colonial law) to Dr. Jeffries is crucial: "Hew fired to defend himself." It cannot determined with certainty who cried "Fire" to begin the shooting.
The British Tea Act requires the colonists to purchase the tea from a single source. The Dartmouth and two other ships sit in Boston Harbor. Disguised as Mohawk Indians, the colonists dump tea valued at $2 million in today's dollars. There follows the Coercive Acts.
John Adams is becoming radicalized when Boston is placed under blockade and the capital moved to Salem. After Sam Adams calls for a conclave, the First Continental Congress convenes in Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The British strategy of intimidation has backfired, and George Washington, the colonist with the most military experience, provides encouragement to the delegates of Massachusetts at the Congress.
In Boston at the Old South Meetinghouse, the deaths of the five gunned down in the Boston Massacre are memorialized. Dr. Joseph Warren is gathering correspondence from all quarters. John Adams and John Hancock flee Boston, which is no longer safe.
Paul Revere is summoned by Dr. Warren. Along with Patrick Dawes and other riders, Revere sneaks out of Boston to ride to Lexington with the warning "the regulars are coming out!" En route, Revere is detained by the Redcoats and might have been executed were it not for the sounds of gunshots outside a nearby tavern.
In an extremely confined space in Lexington, there is the "shot heard round the world," possibly ordered by Major Edward Mitchell, who interrogated Revere the previous evening.
The Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia unites the colonists in the decision to go to war. It convened on May 10, 1775. Colonel George Washington of Virginia is nominated by John Adams to be commander of the military. In Washington, there is the symbol of resilience of the colonists as a whole.