It's the anniversary of Paul Revere's famous ride in 1775, on the eve of the Battles of Lexington & Concord. In 1798 #Revere recalled his ride, noting a few landmarks along his path. One was the spot at Charlestown Neck "where Mark was hung in chains."
Who is Mark, you ask? 1/6
Who is Mark, you ask? 1/6
Mark was an enslaved man who was found guilty, along with enslaved woman Phillis, in the poisoning of Massachusetts enslaver John Codman in the early 1750s.
Phillis was burned alive. 2/6
Phillis was burned alive. 2/6
Mark was hanged. His body was hung in a gibbet (an iron device for displaying corpses). In 1758, a physician passing thru noted with clinical interest that his "skin was but very little broken altho' he had hung hanging there near three or four years" 3/6
He continued to hang there for quite some time. That's why the spot was a familiar landmark to Revere. Let's revisit again how Revere recalled it on the ride we learn as schoolchildren was a ride for liberty: "where Mark was hung in chains." 4/6
A powerful reminder that the history of slavery in America is fundamentally intertwined with the history of the American Revolution. And of the United States. Yet, somehow, it didn't make it into Longfellow's poem. 5/6
Today when you hear about Revere's ride, see how many times you hear about Mark. And then maybe ask why he isn't, usually, discussed? #twitterstorians #history #AmRev #slavery 6/6
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