
America began as a set of colonies controlled by Great Britain. The very first European immigrants to North America were people from Great Britain, as well as other European countries. Many left Europe due to unemployment, economic insecurities, and religious freedoms. As the population in America grew and spread throughout the North American continent thirteen British colonies were established. Prior to the American Revolutionary War, each of the colonies had their own constitutions, which established the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press. Which is rather ironic given the current state of our “United States”, where these very freedoms are under attack by the Rich.
After the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War, a global war also known as the French and Indian War fought between 1754 and 1763, the British Empire needed to raise money to offset the financial costs of the war. They sought to replenish their treasury by imposing taxes on the North American colonies.The colonists in the original thirteen colonies grew disgruntled with Great Britain over the taxation without having a say in their government. “No Taxation without Representation” became a rallying cry amongst the colonists.
In August 1765 Samuel Adams and John Hancock organized a political group called “The Sons of Liberty” in opposition to British taxation, and to fight for the rights of the colonists. They organized peaceful protests, boycotts, and the tarring and feathering of tax collectors. On December 16th, 1773, in an act of protest against a tax on tea, and the monopoly of the East India Company, the Sons of Liberty threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. This became known as the “Boston Tea Party”, and was a significant step towards the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain.
In retaliation to the “Boston Tea Party”, the British imposed stricter policies on the Massachusetts colony. Known as the Coercive Acts, the British imposed laws in 1774 designed to punish Massachusetts. They closed the Boston Harbor, sent British troops to Boston, imposed fines for the destruction of the tea, rewrote the colonial charter, replaced the local government, and expanded the powers of the British appointed governor. Although the Coercive Acts mostly affected Massachusetts, the perceived threat to the rest of the colonies led them to unify against Great Britain and establish the First Continental Congress.
The First Continental Congress was a meeting held in Philadelphia composed of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. It was held in Carpenter’s Hall between September 5th to October 26, 1774 to discuss a response to the increased British oppression. The outcome of the First Continental Congress yielded a number of actions against Great Britain. The delegates adopted the Articles of Association, calling for a boycott against British goods if the Coercive Acts were not repealed by December 1, 1774.
They established colonists’ rights and outlined resistance to oppressive British colonial policies. A petition outlining grievances was written to King George III, declaring that the colonists should be extended the same rights as British citizens. And they formed the Continental Association, calling for the suspension of trade between the colonies and Britain. The conception of a new American Nation.
A number of significant events occurred between The First Continental Congress meeting in 1774 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Understanding the historic value of these events is critical to understanding how America was molded into an independent nation. Take note of the fact that the colonists sought to be included in the government that ruled over them. As taxpayers, they believed they were entitled to a voice in the affairs of the American colonies. “No Taxation Without Representation”, the grievance of the first Americans, is as relevant today as it was in the 1700’s. It led to the First American Revolutionary War, and will lead to the Second American Revolutionary War.
The first such events were those leading up to the battles in Lexington and Concord in 1775. In response to the demands made by the First Continental Congress, King George III insisted that the British Parliament take a tougher stance against this “most daring spirit of resistance and disobedience to the law.” General Thomas Gage, the British appointed Massachusetts governor, began to rule over every aspect of Massachusetts colonists’ life. He monitored the meeting halls, the courthouses, and the docks. There was an ever-present British authority throughout Massachusetts. Aware of the colonists’ resentment, Gage sent soldiers to seize the colonists’ gunpowder supply in Charlestown. The colonists’ raise a “powder alarm” and mobilized thousands of militiamen, some from as far away as Connecticut.
A cache of weapons were discovered in Concord, and Gage sent the military to Concord to confiscate the weapons. Alerted to this action, Paul Revere, Sybil Ludington, and others set out towards Concord to sound the alarm of the approaching army. When the army reached Lexington, the minutemen were there waiting for them. A battle broke out in which eight colonists were killed. The army pushed on to Concord where an even greater number of minutemen were ready and waiting for them.
On April 19th, 1775, the army was repelled at Concord and retreated, while the growing militia pursued them. Each side blamed the other for the bloody confrontation. However, “the shot heard around the war” marked the beginning of the First American Revolutionary War. This is one example as to why the 2nd Amendment was added to the constitution, and why it’s important to understand the historical accounts of the development of our nation. The British tried to take our guns, and we defended our right to have them. Without the original militia , the minutemen, our history could be quite different.
The delegates of the First Continental Congress had agreed to meet again in May 1775, if the British Parliament did not address their concerns. With the outbreak of the conflict in Massachusetts in April 1775, and Parliament’s lack of action regarding the colonists’ grievances, the Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775. In Massachusetts, the Provisional Congress, which was formed when the governor dissolved the legislature, hoped the Second Continental Congress would create a civil government.
The Second Continental Congress agreed to prepare for war, while trying to reconcile the issues with Great Britain. On June 14th, 1775, Congress created the Continental Army and appointed George Washington from Virginia Commander-in-Chief. They also sent a petition to the king, but the king refused to hear their petition. Rather, the king proclaimed that the American colonies were engaged in an “open and avowed rebellion.” Washington headed to Massachusetts to lead the newly formed Continental Army and establish the military regulations outlined by Congress.
After the battles at Lexington and Concord, 20,000 colonial militiamen surrounded Boston to prevent further British attacks on the countryside. In June, 1775, Governor Gage planned to take the undefended high ground at Bunker Hill. Word of the plan reached the militia and they mobilized a thousand troops to beat the British to Bunker Hill. The militia decided to bypass Bunker Hill and instead took and fortified Breed’s Hill. On June 17th, the British awoke to discover the fortifications on Breed’s Hill and attempted to take Breed’s Hill from the colonists. After repelling two charges by the British army, the colonists, short of ammunition, were finally overrun by the British army and retreated from Breed’s Hill.
As word reached the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson drafted the Declaration of Causes and Necessity for Taking up Arms. The document outlined the justification and necessity for armed resistance. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, congressional delegates began to question the idea of reconciliation with Great Britain. Many of the colonies began to establish provisional governments and seek the advice of Congress. John Adams expresses his opinions on the structure of the new government in a pamphlet entitled “Thoughts on Government.” As Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” began to circulate, the colonies began to debate the subject of independence from Great Britain.
By July 1776, the colonists’ had come to the belief that they had no other choice but to reject the tyrannical ruling class and establish a government of their own. The “unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” began with the assertion, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” This statement is as true then, as it is today. We must reject the political bands that have connected us to our oppressors.
On July 4th, 1776, the founding document of the United States, The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress, and a new nation was born. It declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…” The news of the Declaration of Independence establishing the new nation of the United States of America spread throughout the colonies and was met with great enthusiasm. However, the war between the United States and Great Britain would not come to an end until September 3rd, 1783.
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident”… The United States began as a nation that refused to be oppressed by a ruling class that saw them as nothing more than economic slaves to the Rich. “No Taxation without Representation” is one of our founding principles, and cannot be discarded simply because the Rich have become richer and the rest of us continue to struggle under their oppressive control over our country. The first act of rebellion against unfair taxation led to the defense of our right to have the resources to defend ourselves from a ruling class that sought to take those resources from us.
One of our first rebellious acts was to put in writing a “Declaration of Causes and Necessity for Taking up Arms.” The document outlined the justification and necessity for armed resistance, while we sought a peaceful resolution. When peace was not desired by both sides, we stood up for what was right for our America. We insisted on equal treatment, We outlined the fundamental “Unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, and demonstrated our willingness to fight and die over these values. Our founding fathers’ words were powerful, but our nation of many proved the power laid in the hands of the “rest of us”, the people.
We asserted the truth that a government Of the people, By the people, For the people, is a power bestowed on a trusted few to guide a nation of many to prosperity. And, We demonstrated this power can be revoked when the few fail to be guided by our founding principles, even by force if necessary. Our resistance to oppression was not only a resistance to a foreign power, rather it was a declaration of our intent to overthrow all oppressors, foreign or domestic. The “Sons of Liberty” began with peaceful resistance through boycotts and rallies, but resolved that some people needed to be “tarred and feathered.”
During the First American Revolutionary War the newly proclaimed “United States” realized the need to form a centralized government if they were going to grow and prosper as a nation. In November 1777, the Second Continental Congress established a “firm league of friendship”, which became known as the Articles of Confederation. Though issued in 1777, the Articles of Confederation did not go into effect until March of 1781. These Articles outlined a weak centralized government providing each state with one vote in Congress and gave the new central government a number of powers, but its weaknesses led to the need for a new document.
The United States Constitution addressed the shortcomings of the original Articles of Confederation and became the fundamental document of the construction of our nation’s government. Considered the “Supreme Law of the Land”, the constitution superseded the Article of Confederation on March 4th, 1789. The constitution is comprised of seven articles outlining our laws for self governance, 1) The Legislative Branch, 2) The Executive Branch, 3) The Judicial Branch, 4) States Rights, Citizens, and New States, 5) The Amendment Process, 6) Debts, Supremacy, Oaths, and Religious Tests, and 7) The Amendment Process. In addition there have been 27 Amendments added.
It began with the Preamble, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
And yet, “We the People of the United States” have allowed the Rich to destroy our “Perfect Union” and desecrate all aspects of our founding principles for the sake of maximizing their profits. Shame on the “rest of us” for allowing this to happen.
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