Class Updates 10/9 and 10/10

Yesterday, October 9th, we talked about "the shot heard round the world". We watched a Ted-Talk video about eyewitness accounts, showing that the mind recreates memories based on what could have happened, not what actually happened. I found it interesting that our memories aren't what we think they are, and witnesses most likely didn't see what they thought they saw. We compared primary documents from both the British and American sides of the war, and both accused the other side of firing the first shot. One admitted that he couldn't tell who fired the first shot.

Today, October 10th, we learned about the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. In the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the British wanted to get to the colonists' weapons supplies. The night they set off, Revere, Prescott, Dawes, and others rode to warn the colonists and militia that the Regulars were coming. In Lexington, Britain won a quick victory, and was confident they would win the next battles, but they were wrong. The colonists gained control of the high land, meaning the British would need to shoot up to reach the American militia (the way the muskets fire, barely any would hit the colonists). The British troops started to retreat, and the colonial militia fired at them from hiding. The Americans won with less than 100 casualties; the British had over 300 casualties. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, the colonists and British were fighting over the Charleston Heights (Bunker Hill and Breed Hill) to gain the advantage of high ground. The colonists took them at night, and in the morning, the British saw them and wanted to the hills back. Unfortunately for them, they had to wait for the tides to come in to get to the beach, while the Americans prepared for the assault. The British marched up and down the hill twice, suffering great losses each time. On the third time up the hill, concentrating only on Breed Hill, the British won because the Americans ran out of ammunition. The British won the land, but the Americans had less casualties. We made a Search Story in Google for the battles, but it took a long time to load.