The dawn of liberty- Lexington- 1775 Hy Sandham

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Dawn breaks over Lexington Green in this painting by Henry Sandham, which takes its title from the early-morning light of April 19, 1775. That day, a company of British regulars marching from Boston met militia men on the green in the first armed clash of the American Revolution, and eight colonists were killed. Sandham, a Canadian-born painter and illustrator who worked for American magazines in the late 1800s, was drawn to such turning points, and the title frames the skirmish as a beginning rather than an ending. The scene shows the town's small common and the tension of that first morning, when a few dozen farmers and tradesmen stood against a far larger force.

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