On the evening of April 18, 1775, the colonists in Massachusetts slept -not knowing they were on the precipice of the greatest change in their lives starting the next day. They were, for over a decade now, fed abuse and manipulation by a monarch’s golden-spoon that only seemed to reach across the sea when profit was to be made. Their collective bellies hungered for the satiation that only being heard, seen, and respected by those who have the means and responsibility to look out for your good and well-being can give. The embers of fury were glowing in the hearts of pending patriots and they were continually stoked by the disenchantment with a king and his regime across the sea -a world away by coffin-ship.
The British Empire seemed capable enough of fair and sound governance only a decade before during the French and Indian War of 1763. Colonists initially felt they were valued -that the empire across the sea was still their origin story and their roots guaranteed their king was cheering them on in pursuits of colonization. That illusion quickly faded, however, when the British Empire only seemed to note the cost of that war and the potential cost of more should expansion become the goal of their roving subjects that were, in their view, a little too unchecked in nature to be properly controlled…and taxed.
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This act required payment of a tax on all printed material -from newspapers to legal documents and even playing cards. This tax was designed to affect everyone in the colonies significantly. In an attempt to keep local courts from acquitting their community members from violations of this tax, Parliament then took away the right to civil trials and granted trial power to courts overseen by British military officers. As if the shackle was not placed tightly enough with these impositions on the colonists, Parliament then passed a legal requirement to pay for the room and board expenses of British troops that were stationed and to-be stationed in the colonies. This was known as the Quartering Act.
Parliament saw the financial strategies behind these acts, but colonists saw them as an abuse of power. The British government already oversaw trade in the empire, but in placing a direct tax on the colonists without their consent as was guaranteed in the Magna Carta of 1215, taking away the right to a trial by jury, and imposing expensive troops on a society still carving its way to self-sufficiency and financial independence, it pushed the colonists to a new territory in need of exploration -a collective, community space where the key question was: Can a kings divine right and power be kept in check by his subjects?
As fate would have it, this question was branded particularly for the colonists to entertain and answer because they were unique subjects of the British Empire. The distance by sea from their government required local assemblies and leaders to make immediate, spur of the moment decisions that were in place and acted upon until the issues were shipped across the Atlantic, presented to the British government, delegated over without the input of those directly affected, and then shipped back across the Atlantic to be set into motion. The system was one of chaos so colonists had no choice but to start cartography on a new map -one that outlined the path to self-governance.
The Stamp Act met with the free spirit already becoming a staple in Boston led to a protest group that called themselves The Sons of Liberty. While the untamed energy of disconcerted colonists was embraced and adopted by some, others realized the potential of such sentiment spreading and were wary of the possible repercussions. A lawyer, John Adams, attended a Sons of Liberty gathering at Liberty Tree Tavern in Dorchester. Some 350 members attended -many of them future key figures in the revolution. Adams wrote that these gatherings, “…tinge the mind of the people, they impregnate them with the sentiments of liberty. They render the people fond of their leaders in the cause, and averse and bitter against all opposers.”
The once whispers of rebellion were growing to such an audible cry that Parliament cancelled the Stamp Act in 1766 -but only because the discontent was making the act more costly to enforce than it was worth -not because the British government came to see its tyrannical undertone and unjust overreach on its distant subjects. To add thorns to the briar, Parliament then made an act claiming “full power and authority to make laws and statutes…to bind colonies and people of America…in all cases whatsoever.” This crackdown on power also came with new tax demands.
As any parent of a child in their rebellious period knows, the most detrimental and foolish thing you can do in that time period is beat your own chest, tighten your grip, and disregard their feelings that bruise your ego. When news of the parent-nations insults enveloped in letters of legality reached Boston in 1767, the Massachusetts legislature circulated a letter to the communities opposing what is taught now in school like a song, “taxation without representation”.
The Sons of Liberty, ever growing in their influence and capability, called for boycotts on all taxed goods. They broke into warehouses, looted and damaged property of the British Empire, and stopped purchasing commonplace items that would further feed the pockets and ego of King George III. Women boycotted purchasing clothes and made their own. Coffee from the “New World” was served instead of tea. Daily life changes were made by the colonists who knew even back then that the best and only real way to protest effectively is with your pocket book.
Again, faced with the opportunity to respond with maturity, calmness, and the dignity of capability, the British government, instead, lashed out by sending more troops -more weapons to the stationed troops, and offered the colonists a silver platter of threat and danger instead of negotiation and reason. The troops presence was salt in the wound to the colonists and discontent, fights, and turmoil began to seep through the intended illusion of total, empirical control. By March of 1770, British troops fired into a crowd of protestors -wounding six and killing five. The first to be killed was a black man, Crispus Attucks.
Paul Revere coined this event as the Boston Massacre. It was the first time the British authorities made clear that they were willing to murder their own subjects for their expression of discontent and a difference of opinion. The massacre revealed that colonists were, in fact, not valued members of the British Empire, but wayward sheep that needed more than a nip in the heels -they needed extermination if they would not conform and pay up.
Parliament tried to back-track by removing the troops in Boston and cancelling taxes, aside from the Tea Tax -making sure to not entirely abolish the issue of taxation without representation. In May of 1773, Parliament granted a monopoly to East India Tea Company. This made tea in the colonies the cheapest and nearly only purchase option -forcing colonists to buy the taxed tea. Local Boston leaders posted guards on Griffin’s Wharf to prohibit the unloading of taxed tea. On Dec. 16, 1773, a group of men dressed as Indigenous Americans broke into three merchant ships and dumped all goods overboard -the most infamous “tea party” in history.
In predictable fashion, Parliament responded by closing the port entirely, stripping the colony of its charter, flooding Boston with numerous troops who had little to no leadership oversight with the goal of keeping the peace, and demanded to be reimbursed for the tea now anchored on the sea flood in Boston Harbor. They also issued warrants for the arrests of local leaders such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The Sons of Liberty, however, did not merely go into hiding, they used this time to organize, collect, and stockpile weapons and supplies in Lexington and Concord.
The British troops realized these preparations meant armed rebellion and they set out to seize the weapons and detain the leaders of the Sons of Liberty. Luckily, 30 Sons of Liberty had been set on watch in Boston and two lanterns were lit in the Old North Church -the highest structure in Boston at the time, to warn a chain of watchers that the British were on their way to Lexington and Concord to squash the rebellion and potential for resistance. Paul Revere and William Dawes sped to Lexington ahead of the troops and warned Adams and Hancock. Then, they rode to Concord with an addition, Samuel Prescott. Revere and Daws were detained by British soldiers, but Prescott got away and made his way door to door -instructing families to set off alarms of muskets, bells, drums, and anything alarming and loud to spread the news of impending danger.
By dawn, Minutemen -local militia who had pledged to be ready to fight British troops on a “minutes notice”, were aware and preparing for the incoming fight. After a skirmish shortly after dawn on the Lexington town green that left eight colonists dead and a dozen or more wounded, news of the British troop’s arrival spread. So did the spirit of resistance. By midmorning, Minutemen outnumbered the British troops 300-400 and they defended their stockpile of weapons and munitions. The British troops retreated and began to head back to Boston, but by the next morning more than 15,000 colonist militiamen surrounded the city. The Revolutionary War began.
Within a year of the gross abuse of power by a government that was not acting in the best interest of its subjects, a resistance bound together by determination and sacrifice was established and changed the course of history. Grass-roots discontent became coastal-wide destiny, and the rarely proved, but mandatory for the greater-good point was entertained and proven: That power unchecked can be re-checked by those victimized IF they come together unshakable in their underlying cause. Common people have capability, capacity, and conviction to rival any assembled body of wealth and prestige. Those inebriated on power without ever tasting accountability or having to feel the implications of their impaired impositions can be dethroned by an amalgamation of those quenched by the spirit of resistance to cruelty, suffering, and indifference.
What about today? What about all of “it” now? How many more lines will we watch be crossed from our smartphones and computer and television screens while we mutter our unmaterialized fury and discontent into the blue light without having to put a single shoulder to the wheel? Would you boycott your conveniences to the point of self-imposed discomfort, or make time when you have none to attend community gatherings -not to pit against each other, but to discuss and find common ground? Would you watch the streets of Boston silently for hours each night so that when the time comes for you to light the lanterns you don’t waste a moment to try to save your neighbors lives? Would you ride through the darkened roads in urgency -likely facing death, to give a small chance of survival to people who are just as scared as you but also unshakable in their faith in the cause?
Modern day complacency has thus far shown that no, we are not quite there. Because “it” is still going on. Money and power are still flowing, without hiccup, to those abusing. We say we are overwhelmed, tired, angry, discontented, and suffering, but apparently not quite enough to shake us from our phone screens where typed, silent conversations spread on the web while the reverb and power of our living voices are neither heard nor felt by those in our communities. It is not enough to attend local protests -no matter the numbers. The numbers that shake the power drunk are the ones accumulating in their bank accounts by their subservient masses. The ones that forever provide the illusion of superiority and parental altruism in “looking out for the little guy”.
The colonists realized much quicker than we have that the exhaustion from unchecked injustice and hatred far outweighs the fatigue one will feel from the fight against. The human yearning to seek “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” -and not just for those similar to us, but for all, can prove the ultimate fuel -making us invincible, immovable, and resilient beyond our perceived limitations. The questions to ask are, “When will the loss of dignity for your fellow humans prove a greater tragedy than the loss of immediate comfort for you, personally? When will you dare to choose courage over complacency?”
Food for thought.