Paul Revere

Paul Revere: Memorandum on Events of April 18, 1775

Paul Revere is most famously known for his 'Midnight Ride.' This ride, so famously publicized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, which was written in 1860. The ride that Longfellow spoke of really did not happen at all. Paul Revere recounted his ride in his memorandum. He tells of his ride. What is most important, for my paper, is his account of the 'Meeting House.'
For the purpose of my paper, the effects of taverns in society with an emphasis on the American Revolution. Revere, after being captured by the British, explains their movements toward the 'Meeting House.'
To establish the relationship between the term 'Meeting House' and tavern, we look to the end of his journey. Paul Revere states, “We went into the Tavern to git a Trunk of papers belonging to Col. Hancock, before we left the House, I saw the Ministeral Troops from the Chamber window. We made haste & had to pass thro’ our Militia." Here, Revere uses the term 'tavern' and 'house' interchangeably. We can infer that, in this text, a Meeting House and a tavern are the same establishment. This sets up the significance for the rest of the account.
Revere, after being captured, states that the British Major had them march towards Lexington (a city that Revere needed to warn). Revere states, "When we got within about half a Mile of the Meeting House, we heard a gun fired; the Major [British Major] asked me what it was for, I told him to alarm the country." The importance of this quote lies in the Meeting House. The Meeting House was used to house rebels. The rebels job was to warn the country of the British coming. Lexington and Concord was the first battle in the Revolution. So the warning of the country was pertinent to the Revolution. The Meeting House was the establishment where the rebels were waiting for notice of the British troops. The connection between Meeting House and the warning of the country is obvious. Here, taverns are 'watch dogs' of the country.
Furthermore, taverns were the establishment to gather the news. Revere shows this by saying, "I left Mess Adams & Hancock, an told them what had happened; their friends advised them to go out of the way: I went with them, about two miles a cross road; after resting myself, I sett off with another man to go back to the Tavern, to enquire the News; when we got there, we were told the troops were within two miles." Revere shows that the news he needed would be found at a tavern. This tavern was used to gather information about the Revolution. Revere used this tavern to get information about the movements about the British troops. He later uses taverns to gather information on other British troop movements. 
Taverns, shown in Paul Revere's account, were used to house rebels, and information, that furthered the American Revolution.