Independence Day: How we won our freedom

 

Today is July 4th, the day we in the states celebrate our independence from British rule.   I got to wondering how many of us actually know why we celebrate this day.  Most of us think of and celebrate today with family get-togethers, picnics, parades, and fireworks.  But do our children or grandchildren truly know what Independence Day is all about and why we celebrate it?

   Back then, we were 13 colonies.  The decision to declare our independence from the Crown (aka British rule) was not impulsive, but manifested over a series of years and seven events.  

The first event was the Stamp Act issued in 1765.  To recoup some of the massive debt from the war with France, Parliament passed laws, which for the first time taxed a wide range of purchases in the colonies.  Every piece of paper was taxed.  The British felt they had spent a lot of blood and money to protect the colonists from the Indians (native Americans) during the French-Indian Wars, so the colonies should pay their share.

The colonists didn’t see it that way. They resented not only having to buy goods from the British but having to pay taxes on them as well.  Benjamin Franklin convinced the British to rescind the Stamp Act, but that only made things worse.  That made the colonies believe they could push back against the British.

   Next came the Townshend Acts created during the summer of 1767.  According to the History channel web site:

The Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. But American colonists, who had no representation in Parliament, saw the Acts as an abuse of power. The British sent troops to America to enforce the unpopular new laws, further heightening tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies in the run-up to the American Revolutionary War.

Charles Townshend was the creator of this act.  He demanded the colonies needed to pay as much as the British did.  However, the colonies felt they had no representation.  He was sure he could raise 40,000 pounds (monetary), most of it for taxing tea.  According to History channel web site, the colonies:

struck back by organizing a boycott of the British goods that were subject to taxation and began harassing the British customs commissioners. In an effort to quell the resistance, the British sent troops to occupy Boston, which only deepened the ill feeling. 

The next problem was the Boston Massacre in March, 1770.  Once again, according to the History channel web site:

Simmering tensions between the British occupiers and Boston residents boiled over one late afternoon when a disagreement between an apprentice wigmaker and a British soldier led to a crowd of 200 colonists surrounding seven British troops. When the Americans began taunting the British and throwing things at them, the soldiers apparently lost their cool and began firing into the crowd. 

As the smoke cleared, three men—including an African American sailor named Crispus Attucks—were dead, and two others were mortally wounded. The massacre became a useful propaganda tool for the colonists, especially after Paul Revere distributed an engraving that misleadingly depicted the British as the aggressors.

The next event was, as most all know, the Boston Tea Party.  Although most of the Townshend Act had been repealed, the British kept the tax on tea.  This was also a way to bolster the British East India Company, who was struggling financially.

The colonies were mad because they wanted to buy Dutch tea and not be told with whom they could trade.

The colonists disguised as native Americans dumped over 92,000 pounds of British tea in the Boston Harbor.  When they did, the British were enraged.  Many in Parliament were investors in the British East India Company and lost millions of dollars as a result.

The Coercive Acts were drawn up between March and June, 1774.  Once again according to the History channel web site:

In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government decided that it had to tame the rebellious colonists in Massachusetts. In the spring of 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws, the Coercive Acts, which closed Boston Harbor until restitution was paid for the destroyed tea, replaced the colony’s elected council with one appointed by the British, gave sweeping powers to the British military governor General Thomas Gage, and forbade town meetings without approval.

Yet another provision protected British colonial officials who were charged with capital offenses from being tried in Massachusetts, instead requiring that they be sent to another colony or back to Great Britain for trial.

But perhaps the most provocative provision was the Quartering Act, which allowed British military officials to demand accommodations for their troops in unoccupied houses and buildings in towns, rather than having to stay out in the countryside. While it didn’t force the colonists to board troops in their own homes, they had to pay for the expense of housing and feeding the soldiers. The quartering of troops eventually became one of the grievances cited in the Declaration of Independence.

I believe many know about the battles of Lexington and Concord.  British General Gage and his troops went to Lexington to capture John Hancock and Sam Adams, then planned to ride on to Concord to find and seize stockpiles of gunpowder.  However spies told Paul Revere who was able to thwart Gage's plans.

    Thus we get the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

And finally, once again according to the History channel web site:

On the Lexington Common, the British force was confronted by 77 American militiamen, and they began shooting at each other. Seven Americans died, but other militiamen managed to stop the British at Concord and continued to harass them on their retreat back to Boston.

The British lost 73 dead, with another 174 wounded and 26 missing in action. The bloody encounter proved to the British that the colonists were fearsome foes who had to be taken seriously. It was the start of America’s war of independence.

Now you know all the events that led to our fight for independence.  Please enjoy yours today.  I also hope a few of my international friends learned about how and why we decided to declare our independence.  Thanks for joining me on this Federal holiday.