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New York Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Happy Birthday, Money
America has a bounty of 250th anniversaries to celebrate these days. On April 18, I went with my 9-year-old son to watch a re-enactment of Paul Revere's famous ride. The next day, we were among thousands of patriotic Americans at Lexington at 5 a.m., ready for the Redcoats to arrive and hear the shot heard around the world. June 22 is perhaps an even more consequential semiquincentennial, even if there are no re-enactors or commemorative gatherings. On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress invented a new currency and authorized the printing of $2 million. This currency proved to be both a blessing and a curse for the war effort. It's not mere history: Both the successes and the failures offer crucial lessons about how monetary and fiscal decisions affect the economy, and how they shape the credibility of the nation as a whole. Those lessons have resonated through all the intervening years of independence, expansion, conflict, depression, war, reinvention and more. Today the prospects for our currency are starting to turn ominous again. The Continental currency, like the Revolutionary War, had its origins in Massachusetts. For most of history, money had been tangible: gold, silver, wampum, salt blocks, jewelry beads. Paper in the form of private bills of exchange or promissory notes was rare (China and Japan are the notable exceptions here), used mainly by merchants and bankers, and generally able to be converted into some underlying commodity. That changed in 1690 when Massachusetts had a problem paying its bills from a failed expedition against French Quebec. London would not reimburse the costs. The raid itself captured no plunder. So the colony's resourceful government did something that was effectively unheard-of in the Western world: It created 7,000 pounds in its own 'bills of credit,' basically paper currency, with only a vague promise that they would be paid back (but a guarantee that they would be legal tender for tax payments). It created what was effectively fiat money. Although the Massachusetts experiment was, in many ways, a failure, contributing to decades of inflation, it was the model that the Continental Congress drew on when it needed to raise funds to equip the newly created Continental Army. In theory, the $2 million of 'bills of credit' it ordered up (initially in denominations from $1 to $20) were like bonds, entitling the bearer to be repaid in silver or gold at a future date, albeit without any promised interest or a plausible mechanism to raise the precious metals in question. In practice, the paper looked and functioned like currency today, complete with distinctly American imagery, the label 'the United Colonies' and the ability to serve as a medium of everyday exchange. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Watch: The Battle of Lexington reenactment, 250 years later
Thousands of people gathered at dawn Saturday to commemorate the 250th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Lexington. Massachusetts 250th celebration: Local events, road closures. Here's everything you need to know Exactly 250 years after the opening shots of the American Revolution were fired, the Lexington Battle Green once again became a stage for the story that changed a nation. With muskets slung over their shoulders, dozens of Lexington Minutemen reenactors dressed as colonial militia emerged from the shadows just after 5 a.m. and assembled silently on the dew-covered grass. Just as they did on the fateful morning April 19, 1775, they stood waiting for the arrival of British Regulars and the moment that would echo across history. As the Redcoats advanced from the east, the crowd, many wrapped in blankets with hot cups of coffee in hand, fell silent. The British Regulars, outnumbering the colonial militia, formed a two-deep line across the Battle Green. The Regulars were ordered to disarm the militia, but not fire. With the militia defiant, refusing to lay down their arms, the Regulars affixed their bayonets and began to march forward. A single shot, known as the 'shot heard round the world,' rang out, setting off the American Revolution. To this day, it's a mystery where it came from. A brief, chaotic, and unforgettable skirmish ensued. Eight militia men fell, 10 were wounded, and the militia retreated. Their names were read during the reenactment. , Lex250 Commission Chair Suzie Barry said the reenactment, faithful and somber, reminded all present that the freedoms celebrated today were born in gunpowder and grief. 'Today, as we mark the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, we honor the courage of those who stood here in 1775 and ignited the fight for American independence,' Barry said. 'This reenactment is more than a tribute — it's a reminder of why we're here: to preserve our shared history, to reflect on the values that shaped this nation and to ensure that the spirit of Lexington continues to inspire future generations. Thank you to our wonderful Lexington Minute Men for all the work they did to make this the most comprehensive and historical reenactment to date.' Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Boston Globe
19-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
250 years later, shots ring out at Battle Green again
On the British side, one casualty: a single, slightly wounded soldier. While the battle unfolded in front of them, an additonal 260 British reenactors waited on Massachusetts Avenue in the line of march. Civilian reenactors watched the drama, including women and children representing families of the militia. The milestone reenactment launched a full day of commemorations, both the solemn and the festive, to mark the semiquincentennial. of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which ignited the bloody, eight-year American Revolution. Advertisement 'This is about people who risked everything, and it reminds us of the American story,' said Rosie Rios, a former US Treasury secretary who is chair of America250, a nonprofit effort to engage communities across the country in commemorating the Revolution's anniversaries. In Lexington, throngs of onlookers began gathering in the dark, ringing the battleground behind temporary fencing but close enough to watch the fight. A narrator told the crowd what was transpiring, and Stephen Cole, who portrayed militia Captain John Parker, once again urged his men to stand their ground while the Redcoats advanced. Advertisement Following the reenactment in Lexington, more drama was scheduled for Concord, where bells at the First Parish church would ring at 5:45 a.m. as a warning that the British were on the move. On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage dispatched 700 troops from Boston on an overnight mission to seize Colonial military stores that he was told had been hidden there. Two hundred and 50 years later, a reenactor portraying Dr. Samuel Prescott, who escaped from the British patrol that had arrested Paul Revere, was scheduled to ride to North Bridge with the alarm. On Saturday, the Concord Minute Men would fire salutes there, and the Concord Independent Battery would unleash several volleys. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., a ceremony at North Bridge will commemorate the 'shot heard 'round the world,' as the 19th-century American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described the conflict there. And in Lexington, a rededication of Battle Green was scheduled for 10:45 a.m., including a sky-diving performance by the US Army Golden Knights parachute team. Both towns will stage parades with staggered times, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Concord and 2 p.m. in Lexington. In additon, Minute Man National Historical Park, a 5-mile trail along the bloody British retreat from Concord, will feature talks, living-history sites, and demonstrations of the fighting there at various times and locations from 9 a.m. to dusk. Advertisement Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
When are hummingbirds returning to Massachusetts?
Two hundred and fifty years ago this Friday, the cry went out from Charlestown to Concord "The Redcoats are coming!" It just so happens that mid to late April is time for another red-splashed arrival. The ruby throated hummingbirds are coming (back)! OK, maybe you're not a certified bird nerd. But it's never too late to start! Observing the seasonal rhythms as new life returns to New England is one of the redeeming qualities of spring, which can otherwise be a trying time around here (read: last weekend). While the osprey makes March headlines, it's usually the hummingbirds that catch the most attention for backyard enthusiasts. Ruby throated hummingbirds are the smallest breeding bird in Massachusetts, tipping the scales at about the same weight as a nickel. Whizzing by your windows on a warm spring or summer day, they beat their wings at a whopping 53 times per second. As of Monday, the farthest-northern sighting by citizen scientists was just shy of New York City, per Hummingbird Central . Given that we have more consistently mild air in the forecast, it's likely that the first southern New England sightings will come by late this week and into Easter weekend. If you want to attract them to your yard, the same tactic makes them happy as would make any houseguest happy. Throw out some snacks! The hummingbird diet features sugar, and plenty of it. They eat more than their own body weight in insects and nectar every day. To make your own nectar, combine four parts boiling water to one-part refined sugar. Let it cool and pour it into the feeder. You may see some hummingbird foods dyed red, but it is not necessary. The color of the nectar doesn't matter to them, though the ports of your feeder do. This weekend would be a great time to put a feeder out (wait another week for areas more toward northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire/Vermont). The males return to the region first to establish their territory and essentially set up camp to court the females, who will follow several days later.
Boston Globe
11-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
William Dawes needs a poet
Meh. Doesn't have the same ring to it. It's tricky to rhyme anything with Dawes. Gauze. Claws. Straws. Flaws. But rhyming Revere is so clear, my dear. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the 'midnight ride' that kicked off the American Revolution, the legacy of Dawes, the on that fateful night of April 18, 1775, to warn Lexington that the Redcoats were coming, is receiving renewed focus. And with it, comes an old question: Is this all about a poem? If Advertisement There is no question that their legacies are unequal. Revere, a patriot leader and famous silversmith, has statues and a city named after him. Dawes is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave in Forest Hills Cemetery. Is this all simply because Dawes was trickier to rhyme? 'We all kind of kid about how nothing really rhymes with Dawes,' said Barb Moberg, president of Advertisement Catchy poem is perhaps an understatement. It's been theorized that 'Paul Revere's Ride,' with its unforgettable opening line of 'Listen my children, and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,' is the most memorized poem in American history. The poem has been criticized for historical inaccuracies and poetic license (Revere did not actually wait for the ' And there is no question that the 1861 poem made Revere into a household name, 86 years after the midnight ride, and more than four decades after his death. And it happened at a time in American history when he risked sliding toward obscurity. Instead, 10 years after the poem came out, the town of North Chelsea was renamed in his honor. 'Scholars would have known about him, but not every kid would have heard of him, and the poem vaulted him from the corridors of history to the popular imagination,' said Kostya Kennedy, author of the new book ' Kennedy and others have shown that Revere was a much more important figure in the story of the revolution, already a known figure on the night of April 18, who was better able to rally support from the towns he galloped through. 'This is not to lessen Dawes, for what he did required just as much courage as what Revere did, but quite frankly his ride was not nearly as impactful,' Kennedy said. 'If there's only one person who is going to be remembered from that night, it should be Revere.' Advertisement Dawes, on the other hand, took what was arguably the more dangerous route, having to travel straight through a British checkpoint at Boston Neck, the narrow stretch of land that connected Boston to the mainland before the area was filled in. He was given the assignment precisely because he was basically an unknown tanner. The Redcoats knew to be on the lookout for Paul Revere. No one knew William Dawes. Other factors contributed to Revere's legacy flourishing while Dawes became the answer to a trivia question. Revere Charles Bahne, a historian, tour guide, and Dawes scholar, was part of a group of researchers who discovered that Dawes — and 27 other relatives— had been unceremoniously moved at some point in the 19th century from the overflowing King's Chapel Burying Ground, near Boston Common, to a plot at Forest Hills that belonged to the family of his first wife. While there is still a plaque honoring Dawes at King's Chapel, there is nothing to mark his actual grave in Jamaica Plain, a fact that the Dawes descendants group has tried and failed to rectify. 'This is just another one of these things that seemed to work against Dawes' legacy,' Bahne said. 'Revere had all these other things in the revolution that he would have been known for today even if [he] hadn't done the ride. Dawes, no. That was the biggest thing he ever did in his life.' Advertisement And Revere had the poem, and what a poem it was, written as a rallying cry just as the country was on the verge of civil war, composed by America's most-famous living poet. 'Longfellow isn't just talking about the revolution; he's talking about the union which we have to preserve,' said Nicholas Basbanes, the author of ' 'It was written with the meter of the clippity-clop of a horse, brilliantly crafted to stick with you,' Basbanes said. 'And at the time, Longfellow was probably the closest thing to a rock star, so it was circulated everywhere.' The Paul Revere poem, like his other popular works such as ' It's a pop song you can't get out of your head, easy to knock but impossible to replicate. And for Dawes, people have tried, most notably in 1896, when Helen F. Moore published the complaint ' I am a wandering, bitter shade, Never of me was a hero made; Poets have never sung my praise, Advertisement Nobody crowned my brow with bays; And if you ask me the fatal cause, I answer only, 'My name was Dawes' Billy Baker can be reached at
