CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

CHAPTER 68

Statutes of 2025

Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bennett, Berman, Bonta, Bryan, Caloza, Castillo, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Flora, Fong, Gabriel, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Irwin, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Patel, Pellerin, Ramos, Ransom, Rivas, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, and Zbur)

March 19, 2025

Relative to Lexington and Concord Day.

Fiscal committee: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

This measure would recognize April 19, 2025, as Lexington and Concord Day.

WHEREAS, On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and others riders alerted the countryside that British soldiers would be leaving Boston to confiscate and destroy stored arms in Concord and to arrest patriot leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock in Lexington; and

WHEREAS, Local volunteers, mostly farmers and tradesmen organized into community militias and distinguished by the term “Minutemen,” answered the alarm and proceeded to Lexington and Concord to await the King’s soldiers; and

WHEREAS, At dawn on April 19, 1775, on the Lexington Green, over 700 British troops, known as “Redcoats,” approached the Green and ordered the 78 patriot volunteers gathered there to disperse; and

WHEREAS, A shot was fired,no one knows by who,that signaled the start of the war for American independence and came to be known as “The Shot Heard Around the World”; and

WHEREAS, British commanders lost control of their troops and, in the ensuing skirmish on Lexington Green, eight patriot volunteers were killed; and

WHEREAS, The Redcoats continued their march to Concord, where about 400 American volunteers from local communities gathered throughout the morning; and

WHEREAS, A battle ensued at the Old North Bridge and the Redcoats were forced to quickly retreat to the center of town; and

WHEREAS, The Redcoats then began their march back to Boston under a constant stream of fire from the American volunteers; and

WHEREAS, The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, April 19, 2025, marks the 250 year anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles in the American Revolution; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California recognizes April 19, 2025, as Lexington and Concord Day; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.