The American spirit is to resist oppressive government, not to comply out of comfort & convenience. Perhaps a little reminder of the birth of this American spirit will guide us back to our foundations.
Very often we feel helpless, overwhelmed by the level of corruption we see in government. We think, even if just to ourselves, what can one person possibly do alone to have any kind of impact on a government so corrupt. If we really understood the history of American independence we would discover the courage and power of one person over any government.
In April 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar and Molasses Act. These laws were originally passed in 1733 at the insistence of the large plantation owners in the British West Indies (can you say lobbyists?) In conjunction with the Sugar Act, parliament passed the Currency Act, which essentially assumed control of the colonial monetary system (Federal Reserve?). The Currency Act also established “superior” Vice-admiralty courts to ensure rulings favorable to British interests (Administrative Law Courts?).
ALL of these laws were established and enforced upon the colonists in spite of the fact that the colonists were refused proper representation in Parliament, a Constitutional guarantee since 1215 (Legislation without Representation). Combine that with the fact that the colonies were in the midst of a depressed economy due to the protracted Seven Years’ War, so these indirect taxes and unconstitutional laws were particularly grievous. The Sugar Act not only restricted the exports by the colonists, but gave an economic “leg up” to the British West Indies (TPP?).
In 1764 the first “grass roots” opposition to tyranny in the colonies took shape in the form of a Committee of Correspondence in Boston. The colonists did not have email, smart phones, Facebook or blogs, so the Committees of Correspondence served as a means of communication on issues that needed collective attention. The committee in Boston wrote to other colonies to rally united opposition to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act sparking anti-government protests among the colonists.
The Committees began in 1764 as a citizen movement in response to an oppressive government that was defying its Constitutional limitations and would not respond to or respect the wishes of the people. The Committees took the perspective that people must become educated on the principles of Liberty so that the politicians would be publicly shamed for their actions. (I truly wish Americans would shed their unnatural love of politicians and political drama and realize their is no hope in them and nothing at all to be praised. We should be quicker to shame than to defend or praise.)
Yet, all of the above would have never happened if it had not been for just one man. In February of 1761 one man, James Otis, Jr. stood against an entire government and declared he would not be enslaved and would no longer comply with a government out of control…even if that meant he stood alone.
“I will to my dying day oppose, with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand and villainy on the other as this Writ of Assistance is.”
Mr. Otis was an attorney who had gained notoriety for his pro bono representation of colonial merchants challenging the authority of the writs of assistance in 1761. These writs enabled British authorities to enter any colonist’s home with no advance notice, no probable cause and no reason given. (National Security Letters – as authorized under the Patriot Act.) John Adams said of Otis’ five-hour oration in the Boston State House:
“Otis was a flame of Fire! With the promptitude of Clasical Allusions, a depth of Research, a rapid Summary of Historical Events and dates, a profusion of legal Authorities, a prophetic glare of his eyes into futurity, and a rapid Torrent of impetuous Eloquence, he hurried away all before him; American Independance was then and there born. The seeds of Patriots and Heroes to defend…the vigorous Youth, were then and there sown. Every man of an [immense] crowded Audience appeared to me to go away, as I did, ready to take up Arms against Writts of Assistants. Then and there was the first scene of the first Act of Opposition to the arbitrary Claims of Great Britain. Then and there the child Independance was born. In fifteen years, i.e. in 1776, he grew up to manhood, declared himself free.”
Also speaking of Otis, John Adams said,
“I have been young and now I am old, and I solemnly say I have never known a man whose love of country was more ardent or sincere, never one who suffered so much, never one whose service for any 10 years of his life were so important and essential to the cause of his country as those of Mr. Otis from 1760 to 1770.”
We need to be steadfast. We must be resolved. We must understand that “mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” James Otis, Jr. could never have known, that on that day when he stood alone, that he would birth a movement of independence that would take 15 years to come to fruition. Otis would never even see the independence he fostered. But those like Otis who love Liberty know the battle is not for the now, but for “ages and millions yet unborn.” (Samuel Adams)
History proves Liberty’s enemies. But history also proves Liberty’s victories. We just need to decide which we want to live under: enemies or victories.
Who will be James Otis, Jr. today? Who will stand alone and say:
“But I think I can sincerely declare that I cheerfully submit myself to every odious name for conscience’ sake; and from my soul I despise all those whose guilt, malice, or folly has made them my foes. Let the consequences be what they will, I am determined to proceed. The only principles of public conduct that are worthy of a gentleman or a man are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of his country.” ~ James Otis, Jr.
KrisAnne Hall is an attorney and former prosecutor, fired after teaching the Constitution to TEA Party groups – she would not sacrifice liberty for a paycheck. She is a disabled veteran of the US Army, a Russian linguist, a mother, a pastor’s wife and a patriot. She now travels the country and teaches the Constitution and the history that gave us our founding documents. KrisAnne Hall does not just teach the Constitution, she lays the foundations that show how reliable and relevant our founding documents are today. She presents the “genealogy” of the Constitution– the 700 year history and five foundational documents that are the very Roots of American Liberty.
