A well reasoned argument for liberty, limited government, free speech, and values Americans believe to be right and just, has erupted in America. The revolution is being delivered at nationwide Tea Parties, and at Town Hall meetings. The argument, if we are in fact endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, is that we have little need for an overpowering government that believes our rights are granted by politicians, and that it is up to them to administer those rights. The government has become infested with leaders that believe their position is a birthright, and that they are in place to rule over America, rather than govern in accordance to the law of the land, as prescribed by the United States Constitution.
America has been unique from day one. We have always been a confident, self-reliant population that has rejected for over two centuries the worldview of big government, and the culture of dependency that walks hand in hand with a government that ultimately becomes a strong, central governance headed by a powerful ruling faction of bureaucrats.
The Founding Fathers desired that power in the hands of men be controlled, and these men that forged our nation deemed the best way to accomplish their aim was to divide power as much as possible. Those that make laws became representatives of the people and states, and formed the two houses of Congress. Those given the task to execute those laws formed the Executive Branch, lead by the president, also elected by the people. When the law needed to be applied, and justice served, the task would befall a third branch of government, the judiciary. And to further divide the power, the three branches needed to be independent of each other, with limited connections, and granted limited powers enumerated by the U.S. Constitution. A government with too much power becomes a government that rules with tyranny.
British rule in the 1760s granted little liberty to the colonists. Under an ever increasing economic strain, partially caused by the French and Indian War, and many of Britain's troops being permanently garrisoned in the American Colonies, The Crown needed a source of revenue, and they needed it fast.
The Stamp Act, and Quartering Act which followed the Boston Massacre, were the straws that broke the proverbial camel's back. Americans erupted into dissent. The control of the people by the British Government, and the constant barrage of new taxes, encouraged the colonists to stage protest rallies, and boycotts of British goods. The colonists, led by The Sons of Liberty, began to call for an assembly, where each colony could be represented.
Perplexed, the British Government saw the dissent as the childish insolence of a fringe movement of extremists that edged on mob rule. In response, the British began to tighten an iron fist, refusing to listen to the people, and disregarding the dissent as being manufactured by a well educated, affluent elite that was simply exploiting the opportunities of unrest.
Little did The Crown realize, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1815, "Revolution was in the minds of the people. . . years before a drop of blood was drawn."
When, in the streets of Boston, men and boys began to taunt and throw items as British soldiers, the British soldiers fired into the crowd. John Adams later proved in the court of law that the order to fire did not come from the officer in charge. But, the damage had been done. Some of the dead were mere children. Five dead, men and boys, others injured severely. And from that point, the Boston Massacre became the event that began the inevitable fall of dominoes that led to the American Revolution.
The Bostonians did not have the intention of creating an environment where blood would be shed. The British troops had no intention of acting violently against the protesting colonists. The storm, however, was destined to erupt as long as the British government continued to tighten its grip, and the colonists continued to increasingly yearn for liberty, and independence. Whether or not intended, the Boston Massacre became the rallying point, the beginning point of a movement in which Americans fought back in ways beyond organized protests and boycotts. The Boston Tea Party, and the blood shed in Lexington and Concord, were soon to follow.
Our rights are derived from our Maker, and for government to take control of these rights, and hand them out in rationed parts, is hardly the signature of liberty. Liberty must be continuously fought for.
"Freedom is not something to be secured in any one moment of time. We must struggle to preserve it everyday. And freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." - Ronald Reagan
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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