Palin insists she was right on Paul Revere; history shows otherwise

Sarah Palin, whose gaffes are threatening to bury her putative candidacy in the 2012 presidential elections, stood her ground on Sunday and said she did not get her facts wrong about Paul Revere, a time-honored hero of American Revolution.

After landing in the line of fire for questioning the legacy of Paul Revere, Palin said on Sunday: You know what, I didn't mess up about Paul Revere.

Palin said in Boston earlier that Revere, a historical figure known for his midnight ride to Lexington to alert the patriotic American troops about the approach of the British, had indeed undertaken the ride to warn the British.

Many are outraged that Palin's comment sought to diminish the stature of Revere, the prosperous silversmith from Boston whose patriotic fervor led to his immortal role in the American Revolution.

Palin insisted on Sunday part of Revere's ride was about warning the British not to try to confiscate American weapons. Part of his ride was to warn the British that we were already there, that hey, you're not going to succeed, Palin told Fox News.

You're not gonna take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual private militia that we have. He did warn the British.

Earlier Palin had said the following, referring to Revere: “He who warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and by making sure that as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”

Many fume that Palin got all her facts wrong. Her critics say if she raised this different version of Revere's legacy in school or college, she would stand corrected. And many ask just what are her credentials to make such a sweeping negative comment about someone whose name is marked in the annals of the nation's history.

Encyclopedia Britannica mentions Revere's epic ride as a dramatic horseback ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Boston-area residents that the British were coming...

This is what New World Encyclopedia says about him: The role for which he is most remembered today was as a night-time messenger before the battles of Lexington and Concord. His famous Midnight Ride occurred on the night of April 18–19, 1775, when he and William Dawes were instructed by Dr. Joseph Warren to ride from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the movements of the British army, which was beginning a march from Boston to Lexington, ostensibly to arrest Hancock and Adams, and seize the weapons stores in Concord.

And this from notablebiographies.com: Paul Revere is remembered for his ride to warn fellow American patriots of a planned British attack before the
Revolutionary War (1775–83), the war fought by Americans to gain independence from England.