It's March, 1770 in Massachusetts. Life under the British governor, General Thomas Gage, was becoming more politically stressful. The tensions between British rule and the colonials were getting worse. General Gage began pulling troops back from the frontier to secure the coastal cities, like New York City and Boston.
Gage, believing the reasons for the colonial unrest and the tensions they were now experiencing were the result of just a small number of colonial elites, took steps to halt their influence. He pulled in two full regiments to occupy the city of Boston. These troops were to protect British officials and enforce very unpopular Parliamentary legislation that the colonists rejected.
Gage made a tactical error. The unrest was not the result of elites, but was widespread among the populace. This error led to further mistakes based on a misunderstanding of colonial matters.
Among the soldiers quartered in Boston were the 29th Regiment of Foot, a regiment with a reputation for poor discipline and were quick to resort to violence to suppress dissent. They earned this reputation from their clashes in the French and Indian war, and their dealings with Canadian colonists.
It's March 5 and a mob gathers to harass a lone British sentry. As they hurled verbal insults, eight other soldiers came to his support. After a while, the soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot, acting on their own and without orders, fire into the unarmed civilians, killing five and wounding six others. The political tensions had now drawn blood.
News spread rapidly out from Boston to the other colonial cities. Unrest and dissent and the dissent follow the colonists as they spread to the interior regions, away from the cities. They take their distrust and their dislike of British rule with them. As they move away from the cities of the coastal lands, they move away from effective British rule. They find a taste of freedom.
In the towns and villages, colonists begin gathering in town meetings to handle their own affairs. They find a liking for local governance and the independence afforded by being away from the fortified coastal regions. Living in these frontier lands means you must be armed and know how to use your gun. Most colonists had muskets, powder, and ammunition. It is their way of life.
It's now 1772 and General Gage is very concerned. He believes these town meetings and local governance are a significant threat, more so than the elites in Boston and the other cities. He sees this prevalence of democracy to be more of a threat than any other.
It's April 19, 1775 and colonial militias are gathering arms. General Gage has been receiving reports that colonists were gathering weapons and has decided to act. Gage sends 700 British army regulars in secret to capture and destroy the weapons of the local colonist.
But there are always eyes upon those you distrust. The militia received words weeks earlier that Gage would be taking some action to disarm the colonists so they had moved their supplies and arms to new locations.
And just last night, they received details of this British expedition and had mobilized the area militias. They are ready. They are waiting.
As the sun rises near Lexington, the first shots are fired. Shots that changed the world.
In all that fateful day in 1775, clashes between colonial militia and British soldiers went back and forth with each at times having to fall back in retreat. But in the end, the militia continued to grow as colonists heeded the call to action and came to their countryman's aid. The worst of the fighting took place in Menotomy and Cambridge that day.
By the next morning, Boston was surrounded by over 15,000 colonial militia. And so began the siege of Boston.
So why did I go down this historical narrative? To remind people something that should never be forgotten.
America was born among freedom loving armed citizens. Though they first settled the land as British colonists, they found the yoke of an oppressive government too much to bear.
But the prime stimulus that led to the bloody fighting of the American Revolutionary War was an order by the British government to disarm the colonists in hopes of preventing violence.
So the equation is this:
oppressive rule + attempted disarmament = violent response
I hope and pray, truly, that our federal government does not make the same mistakes as did the British governor General Gage in thinking forced disarmament would in any way prevent a violent response.
Learn from history.
Copyright 2013, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)
Gage, believing the reasons for the colonial unrest and the tensions they were now experiencing were the result of just a small number of colonial elites, took steps to halt their influence. He pulled in two full regiments to occupy the city of Boston. These troops were to protect British officials and enforce very unpopular Parliamentary legislation that the colonists rejected.
Gage made a tactical error. The unrest was not the result of elites, but was widespread among the populace. This error led to further mistakes based on a misunderstanding of colonial matters.
Among the soldiers quartered in Boston were the 29th Regiment of Foot, a regiment with a reputation for poor discipline and were quick to resort to violence to suppress dissent. They earned this reputation from their clashes in the French and Indian war, and their dealings with Canadian colonists.
It's March 5 and a mob gathers to harass a lone British sentry. As they hurled verbal insults, eight other soldiers came to his support. After a while, the soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot, acting on their own and without orders, fire into the unarmed civilians, killing five and wounding six others. The political tensions had now drawn blood.
News spread rapidly out from Boston to the other colonial cities. Unrest and dissent and the dissent follow the colonists as they spread to the interior regions, away from the cities. They take their distrust and their dislike of British rule with them. As they move away from the cities of the coastal lands, they move away from effective British rule. They find a taste of freedom.
In the towns and villages, colonists begin gathering in town meetings to handle their own affairs. They find a liking for local governance and the independence afforded by being away from the fortified coastal regions. Living in these frontier lands means you must be armed and know how to use your gun. Most colonists had muskets, powder, and ammunition. It is their way of life.
It's now 1772 and General Gage is very concerned. He believes these town meetings and local governance are a significant threat, more so than the elites in Boston and the other cities. He sees this prevalence of democracy to be more of a threat than any other.
It's April 19, 1775 and colonial militias are gathering arms. General Gage has been receiving reports that colonists were gathering weapons and has decided to act. Gage sends 700 British army regulars in secret to capture and destroy the weapons of the local colonist.
But there are always eyes upon those you distrust. The militia received words weeks earlier that Gage would be taking some action to disarm the colonists so they had moved their supplies and arms to new locations.
And just last night, they received details of this British expedition and had mobilized the area militias. They are ready. They are waiting.
As the sun rises near Lexington, the first shots are fired. Shots that changed the world.
In all that fateful day in 1775, clashes between colonial militia and British soldiers went back and forth with each at times having to fall back in retreat. But in the end, the militia continued to grow as colonists heeded the call to action and came to their countryman's aid. The worst of the fighting took place in Menotomy and Cambridge that day.
By the next morning, Boston was surrounded by over 15,000 colonial militia. And so began the siege of Boston.
So why did I go down this historical narrative? To remind people something that should never be forgotten.
America was born among freedom loving armed citizens. Though they first settled the land as British colonists, they found the yoke of an oppressive government too much to bear.
But the prime stimulus that led to the bloody fighting of the American Revolutionary War was an order by the British government to disarm the colonists in hopes of preventing violence.
So the equation is this:
oppressive rule + attempted disarmament = violent response
I hope and pray, truly, that our federal government does not make the same mistakes as did the British governor General Gage in thinking forced disarmament would in any way prevent a violent response.
Learn from history.
Copyright 2013, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)
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