Many Americans are familiar with the story of Bostonian Paul Revere, whose midnight ride on April 18, 1775, alerted the Massachusetts countryside to the presence of British troops in the hours before the opening battle of the American Revolution. But far fewer know that Revere also heroically rescued a vital trunk of paperwork that night.
The race to save this patriot archive underscores the fact that the Revolution wasn’t won solely on the battlefield. The safeguarding of government paperwork contributed to the Americans’ victory, too. As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding on July 4, 1776, the fierce contest over access to these records, involving nighttime raids and daring wartime rescues, is worth revisiting.