(RNS) — On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere’s ride set in motion a chain of events that would alter the course of history. Within hours, at Lexington and Concord, the shot heard round the world marked not only the beginning of a revolution, but also the emergence of a new understanding of freedom. For those who stood on the village greens, the question was immediate and urgent: Would they submit to authority imposed from afar, or resist it? Beneath that surface, people like John and Abigail Adams had a deeper aspiration that would define America for generations to come. The revolution that began that morning was not simply a rejection of British rule. It was the beginning of a new idea, that authority could be rooted not in monarchy, but in the people themselves. Freedom, in this vision, required participation, shared responsibility and a form of government that George Washington would describe as “the great experiment.” This framework, however, has never been easy to grasp. Long before the U.S.…