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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, April 19, 2025, marks the 250th anniversary of the |
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Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, when the "shot |
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heard 'round the world" signaled the beginning of the American |
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Revolutionary War--later culminating in the signing of the |
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Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776; and |
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WHEREAS, Following years of simmering tensions between Great |
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Britain and its 13 American colonies, especially Massachusetts, the |
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level of conflict reached a boiling point in 1775; angered by the |
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imposition of onerous taxes and military rule, colonists protested |
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with the rallying cry "no taxation without representation" and |
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joined local militias; the colonial patriots had learned of the |
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British plan to seize their weapons cache in Concord, and late on |
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the night of April 18, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel |
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Prescott rode out to spread the news to minutemen, who quickly |
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mobilized; and |
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WHEREAS, Some 700 to 800 British soldiers arrived in |
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Lexington at dawn on April 19 and found about 80 militiamen gathered |
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on the town green; the British demanded that they disperse, but |
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before they could do so, a shot rang out from an unknown source; the |
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British subsequently attacked, killing 8 militiamen and wounding 10 |
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more; some troops pursued fleeing militiamen while the light |
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infantry pushed on toward Concord; their search for hidden weapons |
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proved largely fruitless, as the colonists had already moved most |
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of them; the British then contended with a much larger colonial |
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force in a second skirmish, and as the "redcoats"--as British |
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soldiers were then called--retreated toward Boston, further |
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American reinforcements arrived to inflict heavy damage from behind |
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trees, walls, and buildings; during the increasingly chaotic fight, |
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73 "redcoats" were killed, over 170 were wounded, and 26 went |
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missing; American losses were 50 killed, 39 wounded, and 5 missing; |
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within two days, 15,000 men from across New England had surrounded |
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the British in Boston; and |
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WHEREAS, Although the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and |
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Concord did not constitute a serious military defeat for the |
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British, they proved politically disastrous, demonstrating that |
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the American citizen soldiers, most of them farmers or tradesmen, |
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could successfully stand up to an empire's professional army; the |
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violence ultimately transformed the colonists' antipathy toward |
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British policy into a blazing resolve to win independence; and |
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WHEREAS, In the words of John Adams, with the Battles of |
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Lexington and Concord, "the die was cast, the Rubicon crossed," and |
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it is indeed fitting to pay tribute to the courage, acumen, and |
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determination that characterized this momentous turning point in |
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the founding of the United States of America; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battles of |
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Lexington and Concord. |