What does "one if by land and two if by sea" refer to?

Answer 1

The American Revolution Began
April 19, 1775
Have you heard Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride"?
One if by land, two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex, village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.

After looking for the signal (one lantern if the regulars - the term used for invading British soldiers - were coming by land, or two if they were coming by sea) in the Christ Church steeple, Paul Revere and other Americans rode through the dark of the night on the eve of April 19,1775, to warn the country folk of the danger to come.

Answer 2

During the Revolutionary War, people living in Boston knew the British were planning a major attack. What they didn't know was which route the British soldiers would take-- would they march over land or arrive in boats? Trained spotters were instructed to hang lanterns at the top of the Old North church once they saw the actual invasion begin. One lantern meant a land approach and two lanterns meant they saw enemy ships in the harbor.

Answer 3

In the ride of Paul Revere the signal for the British coming was one lantern if they were approaching by land and two if they were coming in by sea

Answer 4

Paul Revere was to place the lanterns in the North Church Tower to warn the Patriots of the coming of the "Redcoats". One lantern, if they were coming by land, two lanterns, if by sea. The phrase was immortalized by the poem by Longfellow: "Paul Revere's Ride"
It begins:
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

Answer 5

It refers to the number of the lanterns the lighthouseman was to use to signal Paul Revere how the British were coming

Answer 6

the quote "one if by land and two if by sea" refers to the amount of lanters which would be lit based on if the Red Coats invaded the town of Boston by land or by sea. Light one lantern if they (the Red Coats) invade by land and two lanterns if they invade by sea.

Answer 7

The amount of lanterns in the Old church to tell Paul Revere how the British were coming.

Answer 8

it was the signal that paul revere used to tell washington that the british were coming by land or if they were coming from the sea

Answer 9

It was a way for the colonists to signal the way that the British would be arriving.One burning lanern if by land and two if by sea.

Answer 10

Paul Revere the American revolution