What is the message in chapter 1 of April Morning

The story begins on April 18th, 1775 at the onset of the American Revolution. In the first chapter of April Morning, we are introduced to the Cooper family and, more specifically, to Adam Cooper, a 15-year-old boy. Adam goes out to the well to fetch some water, but he has a dark premonition. He says a prayer over the well to banish these dark thoughts and feelings of impending doom. 

Throughout the first chapter, we...

The story begins on April 18th, 1775 at the onset of the American Revolution. In the first chapter of April Morning, we are introduced to the Cooper family and, more specifically, to Adam Cooper, a 15-year-old boy. Adam goes out to the well to fetch some water, but he has a dark premonition. He says a prayer over the well to banish these dark thoughts and feelings of impending doom. 

Throughout the first chapter, we see a sort of "coming of age" scenario begin to play out. Adam is annoyed at his younger brother, Levi, who threatens to tell their father about Adam's recitation of the spell. Adam can be characterized as the quintessential rebellious youth, going again his family's wishes and beliefs. Here we see that Adam is defiant in comparison to his brother: Adam is chastised for reciting spells and he challenges his Granny's—and his other schoolmates'—belief in God.  Adam longs to be taken seriously as a man, and he is angry at the fact that his father, Moses, criticizes him for his beliefs and ideas and disregards his view points by claiming that he is too young and not mature enough to reason as a man does. 

Adam's bitterness toward his father can be seen clearly, and he manifests these bitter feelings into the idea that his father hates him, even after it is explained by his mother and Granny that his father is just headstrong, which is something the two have in common. 

By the end of the chapter, we are able to see the clear contempt that Adam has for his father, paving the way for a father-son conflict to unfold in the coming pages. 

In addition, we learn in this chapter that Moses Cooper is part of a group of men who will be drafting their arguments against British rule. Adam's premonition of impending doom acts as a type of foreshadowing for the events that are about to come.