posted by Writer on Apr 19
George III didn’t have a phone, but like Obama he did have a pen and he used it to hammer Boston into submission by signing the Coercive Acts after tea was dumped into the harbor.
The legislation closed the port, revoked the Charter, placed troops into homes of the people, quashed town meetings and their right to assemble.
Things were going to hell quickly, forcing the Crown to replace provincial governor Thomas Hutchinson with General Thomas Gage.
Losing Hutchinson was no big deal, because he was a minion who was unsuccessful in bringing Boston under George’s boot. His kids were also customs collectors who became rich because the law permitted them to keep a percentage of the taxes that were imposed on tea. Sounds like Harry Reid’s family.
The King was flexing his muscle by using the greatest military power on the face of the earth at that time, and eventually Gage imposed marshal law.
Gage also moved to confiscate arms and crush the rebellion for good, but on this date in
1775 our forefathers gave him, and the Crown, the proverbial finger that began the fight that lasted for eight long years.
On the way British troops; “pillaged almost every home …carrying off clothing and other valuable effects… and shooting down the unarmed, aged and infirm.” (1)
By the by, tradition holds a pistol shot was cranked across the Green first and in those days only British officers carried them, prompting many to conclude the Crown fired first.
I find that when it comes to our Christian heritage many Christians are as dumb as a rock. When stories such as this are told to them, they respond with that “deer in the headlights” look. They have no clue.
239 years ago today the congregation of Pastor Jonas Clark stood outside their homes and drew a line in the sand to stop the Crown’s aggression. Most were wiped out within a matter of minutes. However, by the end of the day they forced the Redcoats to limp back to Boston after inflicting over 250 causalities.
They stood and fought because they believed George III had put himself above the Lord and His Word, and if they were to submit to such tyrannical actions it would be sin, something Clark taught them from scripture for over twenty years.
They never got to enjoy what we have, and if they were alive today I surmise they’d be pointing an accusatory finger at us because we now find ourselves in the same spot they were in.
(1) Battlefields and Blessings, p 98, by Jane Hampton Cook. Quote taken from the Salem Gazette April 1775. All paintings by Don Troiani.
April 21st, 2014 at 9:52 am
I do not know the history of our nation, nearly as you do…nearly as I should
but I DO know what the Word of the Most High GOD says about HIStory:
” That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been…” Eccl 3:15
HIStory is cyclical. Perhaps this is at the very least in part – because humans do not know HIStory….and that which we do not know, we unwittingly repeat
And I confess to being part of that ignorant part of the problem.