The Minutemen and Their World

By early 1775, the administrative structure of Massachusetts had come under de-facto local control. Concord had been chosen as the site for an emergency arsenal, which was supplied by a massive smuggling effort. But nearly all citizens of Concord took part in the preparations for war, most by gathering, producing, or storing necessary supplies, even at great personal risk. Many of the men who made up Concord’s militia were veterans of the French and Indian War (1754-1763) or the 1740 Siege of St. Augustine during the War of Jenkin’s Ear, or had other military experience. On the eve of war, the town experienced a relatively-rare moment of unity and peace.

This chapter also explores the demographic shifts taking place in Concord that would have as much effect as the coming war on the town’s character. As the town’s population increased, family farms were becoming smaller and smaller as they were divided among successive generations of sons. Gross connects stability in the town to the paternal authority that the promise of a large inheritance guaranteed; as land became harder to come by, the power structure of Concord society began to shift. However, though the oldest families in the area were perhaps especially affected by this trend, their status was secured to some degree by the fact that they also owned former common lands, but this only delayed the problem by a generation.