What did Paul Revere do that makes him so important in American history?

Paul Revere is most famous for his midnight ride warning
the Minutemen that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord.  But Paul Revere
did much more than that. He was one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, secret
societies formed in several of the colonies to protest British policies in the
colonies.  These protests often used violence or the threat of violence to achieve their
goals.  As an active member of the Sons of Liberty, Paul Revere participated in the
dumping of tea into Boston harbor, which is today known as the Boston Tea Party.   But
perhaps the one thing that Revere did that was important to America was the engraving he
made of “The Boston Massacre”.  On March 5, 1770, an unruly mob of Bostonian men and
boys began threatening a lone sentry near Boston’s Custom House.  Rocks, bricks, and
chunks of ice were thrown at the sentry. Soon, a small company of soldiers came to help
the sentry who feared for his life. When these troops arrived, the mob grew angry,
daring the soldiers to fire.  In the chaos and confusion of the moment, shots were fired
and 5 Americans were killed.   Paul Revere saw this as a great opportunity for
propaganda.  He made an engraving of “the Bloody massacre on King Street” depicting the
event his own way.  In his engraving soldiers lined up in an orderly fashion were being
ordered to fire upon a helpless, peaceful group of Bostonians.  This engraving was
widely circulated and was responsible for public opinion turning against the British
troops in Boston, which would eventually lead to the events in Lexington and Concord. 
An interesting note to the Boston Massacre—the troops who fired upon that mob were put
on trial and defended by John Adams.  None were found guilty of murder and the trial
transcripts show the falsehood of Revere’s engraving.