OUR HISTORY……OUR HERITAGE by Bill Kiefer

A few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to describe highlights of the trip we took
to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV, from whence we
journeyed on to the restored Colonial Capital at Williamsburg, VA. Both
destinations are spectacular, each in its own way. Both are “foodie” destinations.
Both have phenomenal art collections and points of interest.
Further, both are historic. The Greenbrier’s history is largely related to the
antebellum period when it served as the “Summer Whitehouse.” While Colonial
Williamsburg’s history is linked to its service as the capital of the colony of
Virginia, largely prior to, and somewhat during the American Revolution. Most of
us remember from our school days that the first permanent English settlement in
what became the continental United States, was located at Jamestown in the
Virginia Colony and was founded in 1607. The Virginia Colony, originally a
collection of men, eventually survived; (and there is some historical evidence that
it may have had to resort to cannibalism to do so, during the “Starving Times.”)
The Colonists found a cash crop, tobacco; had sometimes good and sometimes
tenuous relations with indigenous peoples and finally established slavery in the
colonies when colonists purchased a group of captured Africans from a Dutch
vessel in 1619.
The Colonial Williamsburg living history museum does not shirk its obligation to
show all sides of the story. The museum is not just a collection of houses and
buildings designed for architectural viewing. Rather a long-gone way of life is
shown. Crafts, from the making of paper, to clothes, to wigs, to bricks, tools and
furniture are shown. There are plays. There are minstrels. Costumed docents, fully
in character, be they Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, a slave, a Native American,
an inn keeper, a lawyer, etc., explain their lives and work at length.
Now, this being the 4 th of July Weekend, I was inspired to view several history
related movies and series partly in celebration of the holiday, but also as a further
learning experience. This started with the History Channel’s 13-part 2006 series
entitled “The Revolution.” It follows the country’s path from colonies to states to
Nationhood in the period between 1763 and 1789. When it starts the English
Colonists had been here for almost 170 years. They were well established along the
sea board east of the Appalachians, with about 2.5 million British subjects in
residence. The British army and navy had just won a world war against France.
That victory cost the crown considerable sums of money. Much of it was spent in

the American Colonies keeping them safe from the attacks of the French and
Indians. Parliament and the King in far-off London felt that the Colonists, be they
from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia or any of the other nine,
should help pay down the debt. To do so Parliament enacted several taxes. Most
objectionable of these were the Stamp Tax and a tax on tea. The former required
colonials to pay for a stamp on virtually anything purchased. If one bought land
one had to buy a stamp to affix to the deed. This requirement extended down to
requiring stamps on even such mundane items as playing cards.
In the 1770’s the Colony of Massachusetts became a hot bed of resistance to these
taxes. The resistance was not to the taxes in particular, but, rather, to their
enactment without discussion or a right to be heard thereon. They saw themselves
as did Englishman in any shire with a right to be represented in Parliament. The
Crown and the King’s ministers thought otherwise. Riots occurred in Boston.
Thereafter, a confrontation between Bostonians and British troops led to an
exchange of snowballs and musket balls which left several dead, including an
African American Freeman, Crispus Attucks. Ironically, several soldiers were tried
on criminal charges, and local firebrand and future President, John Adams
defended them so that they would have a fair trial. Thereafter in response to the tea
tax a group of colonists, thinly disguised as Native Americans went to Boston’s
harbor and emptied the tea contained on British merchant vessels into the harbor.
In response to this “outrage” Parliament passed the “Intolerable Acts” which
included the closing of the Port of Boston until the destroyed cargo was paid for.
More significantly the Crown sent thousands of soldiers to occupy Boston, and to
be housed by the City’s inhabitants. Today this would be equivalent to declaring
martial law in the city. These extremes led to a call for a “Continental Congress.”
Each colony sent representatives to such an assembly in Philadelphia.
By April 1775, Massachusetts had established a loosely based militia, which
history sometimes refers to as the Minute Men. When the British were made aware
that there were stores of weapons in Lexington and Concord they sent infantry to
both sites seize the material. Shots were fired and several minute Men were killed
and wounded. However, the colonists inflicted serious casualties as they repeatedly
fired at the British from ambush on the latter’s return march to Boston.
Thereafter, on June 15, 1775 John Adams proposed to the Continental Congress
the creation of a professional army. The matter was approved and a 43-year-old
George Washington was named its commander. A mere two days later, on April

17, 1775, British forces successfully removed an entrenched contingent of
Massachusetts militia in the battle of Bunker Hill, (largely fought on Breed’s Hill
overlooking Boston.) The British victory was costly: 226 killed and 828 wounded.
The Colonial losses were less than half that. However, the most significant loss
was the death of Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Provincial
Congress. Some historians have opined that Dr. Warren may have rivaled
Washington as a leader.
In July 1775, George Washington arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts to take
command of an “army.” He found an undisciplined, ill-clad, poorly equipped, mob.
Washington spent the next several months attempting to fashion it into a
semblance of a fighting force,
One of the problems confronting each side in the dispute was the time it took to
communicate between the colonies and England. At that time, the fastest sailing
vessel made the journey in six weeks. When news arrived in England, it would
cause the King or Parliament to react, a process usually taking several weeks and
then word was sent back to the Governors and Generals in the Colonies. The
process could not take less than four months, and often took longer.
Yet, on January 1, 1776, King George III issued an edict to “crush the rebellion by
any means necessary.” Another noteworthy writing occurred early in 1776.
Thomas Paine published a forty-six-page booklet entitled “Common Sense.” His
work was a call to revolution rather than mere rebellion. Its reasoning caught on.
People throughout the colonies were captivated by its logic. Approximately
100,000 copies were distributed. Based on the population at that time, it would be
equivalent to selling 25,000,000 copies of a book today. His message of breaking
totally from Britain and becoming independent led considerable numbers of people
to believe that the birth of a new world was at hand.
In early 1776, Washington conceived a plan to drive the British from Boston via a
head-on infantry assault. His subordinates, generals Greene and Knox proposed a
different plan. They believed that they could transport twenty cannons captured at
Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, a distance of 225 miles and place the British in an
unsustainable position. One of Washington’s strengths was his ability to take the
advice of others. He did so on this occasion. The success of the mission caused the
evacuation of 8,900 British soldiers and 1,100 loyalists from Boston on March 5,
1776.

As to the troops they didn’t move far. One hundred and thirty ships of the British
Navy were used to transport and supply 25,000 soldiers which landed on Staten
Island. These troops progressed through Brooklyn and Manhatten, where
Washington’s army was defeated in a series of battles. New York City became an
occupied town.
Against this background, the Continental Congress continued to meet in
Philadelphia. A thirty-three-year-old lawyer from Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was
given the task of drafting a document which would turn the Rebellion into a
Revolution. It took him approximately two weeks to create a first draft. When such
was complete he presented it to his committee. Following some modification, it
was submitted to Congress. Following three days of debate and eighty-nine
changes, these introductory phrases, and Preamble wording were found acceptable,
along with the remainder of the document.
Hence, we have:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.”

“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is

their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security. 

It was done! Happy 246 th Birthday America!