It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => History => Topic started by: LadyVirginia on May 30, 2011, 09:00:10 PM
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My daughter sent this posting (http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=17598) by one of her profs from Hillsdale College Dr. Brad Birzer.
British Major Pitcarne took six companies of an advance team to scout out Lexington, Massachusetts, early morning, April 19, 1775. Behind him marched nearly 6,000 troops with orders arriving from London to capture any New England leaders of the so-called rebellion.
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Prior to the shots fired at Lexington, Americans still considered themselves traditional and patriotic Englishmen. It’s worth repeating—what the Lexington men did on the morning of April 19th, was what they believed Anglo-Saxon and western men had always done.
If anything, the men of Lexington were more English than those living in England.
As with many of his fellow Protestant ministers of the century, Rev. Clarke had become deeply fascinated with the ideas of Natural Law and Natural Rights in the 1750s and 1760s.
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Outnumbering the Lexington militia, nearly ten to 1, as noted above, the British easily won this skirmish. But, symbolically, they lost. For at the moment the first Lexingtonian died, America was born.
Clarke’s words were as true in 1765 as they are today. They are worth repeating:
"And it is a truth, which the history of the ages and the common experiences of mankind have fully confirmed, that a people can never be divested of those invaluable rights and liberties which are necessary to the happiness of individuals, to the well-being of communities or to a well regulated state, but by their own negligence, imprudence, timidity or rashness. They are seldom lost, but when foolishly or tamely resigned."
A profound thanks for all of the men and women who have served the American cause of Natural Law, Natural Rights, and the dignity of the human person since April 19, 1775.
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Good post!
Two thoughts. First, Lexington laid bare the hollow claim by the Crown that British Subjects in America were only British Subjects in name only. The Americans were treated much like any other property, and disposed of in like fashion according to their whim. People do not like to be told they are third class citizens. Second, the parallels to today are interesting. Here we are engaged in a struggle over our own liberties, whilst the feral Federal beast devours all in its path, and too many in our land are tamely and foolishly submitting to its ravenous fate!
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And tomorrow we............... ::whatgives:: ::rockets:: ::slapfight:: ::gaah::