April 18, Paul Revere rode through the night from Boston to Lexington and Concord warning the colonists, "The British are coming!"

April 19, under the command of Capt. John Parker, 70 Minutemen faced 700 British Regulars at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Mass.
Capt. Parker ordered, "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

Capt. Nathan Hale was captured by the British and without a trial, Gen. Howe ordered that he be hanged on the spot as a spy. Hale faced death with dignity, uttering these last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

At the Battle of Bunker Hill a newly-formed and ill-equipped colonial army faced 2,200 British troops. The Americans were short on gunpowder and their leader, Gen. Putnam, rode along the lines ordering the men, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

In a speech to the Virginia legislature, Patrick Henry declared, "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Capt. John Paul Jones' ship, the Bon Homme Richard, engaged the HMS Serapis in a naval battle. After hitting the Richard broadside causing the loss of much of her firepower and many of her gunners, the Serapis' captain called out to Jones, asking if he surrendered.
Jones' reply: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Accepting the commission of commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington stated, "The fate of unborn millions will now depend on God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die."