Paul Revere is known for his famous ride through Charlestown, Virginia on April eighteenth, 1775 at midnight. There are countless stories that have been published about this famous ride, but copious amounts of them are inaccurate. “Paul Revere’s Ride,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is not a credible source of information considering Revere does not execute the same things within these two pieces of literature, the British’s actions are not the same in the poem and the letter, and Revere is not alone on this famous night.
Longfellow does not match his poem up with the true actions of Paul Revere. According to Longfellow’s poem, Revere waits for a signal; whereas, the letter Revere wrote to his friend says that …show more content…
The poem does not discuss Revere’s friend that asks him to go to Lexington; it simply states that he will wait for a signal. “He said to his friend, ‘If the British march By land or sea from the tower to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch,’” (Longfellow 6). Revere has two of his friends help him across the Charles River to arrive at the shore. “Two friends rowed me across Charles River, a little to the eastward where the Somerset Man of War lay,” (Gilder Lehrman 1). The poem does not recognize Revere’s friends who help him to alert the town of the British. “I likewise mentioned, that we had better allarm all the inhabitants till we got to Concord,” (Gilder Lehrman 3). As was previously stated, the poem gives no credit to Revere’s friends who helped on his famous ride.
It is often argued that Longfellow’s poem is a credible sources because it has facts about Revere’s ride. One cannot deny that the poem has facts about this famous ride. However, these few facts are not in comparison to the false statements. Paul Revere’s letter, in addition to a manifold of others, is a true source of information. Thus, Longfellow’s poem is not a credible source of