To get to the point of revolution took a few years and several actions on the part of the British. To begin, we must look back to 1763 and the end of the French and Indian War. This was the first true world war in human history and made England a truly great empire. In truth, the sun never set on the British Empire.
But wars cost money, lots and lots of money. The treasury of Great Britain was in dire need of a large infusion of funds. Since the taxpayers in England thought they were already too burdened to accept more taxes, the only logical place to look for money was in the colonies.
After all, reasoned the governing circles in London, was not this war fought for the benefit of those colonies? They have never been burdened like we have, it is time they pay their fair share of taxes to pay off this huge debt. There is only one hitch in this scenario. The colonists had no representation in Parliament. According to English law and tradition, no one can be taxed unless they have representation in Parliament.
The British government sought to use “virtual representation” to argue that the colonists were indeed represented. Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic knew this fiction for what it was. In 1763, American colonists were proud to call themselves "Englishmen", but as the years rolled by, they began to realize that Englishmen in England did not see them as anything more than subjects of the crown, not brothers in citizenship.
The American colonists continually resisted attempts by the government in London to tax them. They recognized the truth in the words of the Commonwealthmen, that liberty must be zealously guarded and that it can never compromise with power. The acceptance of even one tax, however small and innocuous, would have started them on the dark road to doom. Acceptance of a small tax would make it easier to accept another and another and another until their liberty had been lost to tyranny.
The efforts of the British to enforce payment of taxes only further reinforced the tenets of liberty in the minds of the colonists. The British knew that Boston was the center of resistance so they began stationing regular British troops there after several taxes had been repealed due to colonial boycotts. These troops were quartered in the homes of the colonists. Imagine a situation where three or four or five Redcoats are sent to live in your house. They are armed while you most likely are not. They will sleep in your bed, eat your food, use your facilities, and you will not receive one shilling in compensation. This is a direct assault on liberty.
Formation of the Continental Congress
As events continued, both sides stiffened their necks. The British were determined to put the colonists in their place while the colonists were equally determined to resist. The point-of-no-return loomed ever nearer. In 1774, a Continental Congress met to decide what to do in response to British provocations. They sent a declaration to the King. This declaration argued that the colonists were Englishmen; their forefathers did not give up the rights of Englishmen when they sailed to America. They had long established the right to tax themselves through their colonial assemblies. Therefore, let Parliament request funds through these assemblies. But, as long as there is no colonial representation in Parliament, then there is no legal tax. The declaration did not hint at independence but did state that if these conditions were not met, they would meet again in 1775.
The 2nd Continental Congress was set to meet in May 1775 as the King had the rejected the colonial demands. Before they could meet, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. The Redcoats were sent out to retrieve a store of gunpowder the colonists had in Concord. They were also to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock so they could be tried for treason.
At the Lexington Green they were met by a small group of Minutemen. No one knows who fired first, but the “shot heard round the world,” fired early in the morning in quiet Lexington ignited the American Revolution. Of course, no one wanted this to be so, but it was fact. The colonial leadership spent a year trying to get back from the brink of war. However, events continued to push the colonists into war.
The publication of Thomas Paine’s booklet Common Sense distilled the issues down to a level that anyone could understand. The King is a tyrant, and it’s high time to say so. It is time to stop pretending that George III is a good King; he is not, he is a tyrant. Paine insisted America could become a republic and that Americans could govern themselves without a King. This book became the radical force that pushed America into rebellion.
When the 2nd Continental Congress published The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, it clearly spelled out how Americans viewed liberty. Americans had been loyal subjects of the King until he became a tyrant and tried repeatedly to usurp their liberty. It is now their duty, right, and obligation to rebel and create a new governmental contract as the old one is broken.
Note: Look at politics today - every governmental act is about liberty. How much liberty are we as citizens willing to surrender to our government in order for society to function smoothly and the public order maintained? This question is the foundation and backbone of American government.
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