From the Mayflower pilgrims to the Liberty Bell of Philadelphia

My last article traced my family’s pilgrimage to the 1861-1865 US Civil War trail in the nation’s backyards of Pennsylvania (Battles of Gettysburg and Valley Forge), Virginia (Battles of Antietam, Manassas, old colonial town of Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville and George Washington’s Mt. Vernon) and Washington DC. On this trip we crossed battlefields where 100,000 Americans perished and were buried, foe next to foe, brother next to brother, fighting to keep slaves or seeking to free them.

In search of a new world

Two centuries earlier, there was no America until August of 1620, when families from England sailed on a merchant ship called “Mayflower.” William Bradford, a Mayflower Passenger who would become governor of the new colony across the ocean, wrote, “The least useful and most unfit people were persuaded to give up their places to stronger passengers.” With 102 passengers and a full crew of sailors crowded aboard the Mayflower set sail on a six-month journey.

In the height of winter on Dec. 11,1620, they landed at Plymouth Rock but settled in Cape Cod, now known as Massachusetts. By springtime half the colonist and half the sailors had perished from exposure, malnutrition and illness. When Master Jones and his crew sailed back to England, April 5, 1621, not one of the colonists went along. They were determined to make this land their home.

Why had they left home? Some of the English colonists were really Dutch, Swedish or German. But they lived as subjects of the English king. Some left in search of religious freedom. The king and most Englishmen belonged to the Church of England. People who tried to worship differently were thrown in prison.  Others left because they were poor and hungry. Some hoped to grow rich. In England, a poor farmer couldn’t become a respected landowner. But in America, if you worked hard, you might become one of the richest people in the land.

How the revolutionary war began

By the year 1733, there were 13 English colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. The British were still afraid of losing their colonies so they sent 10,000 British soldiers, but insisted that the colonists should provide them quarters. They also insisted that the colonists buy almost anything they needed from Britain including sugar even if they could buy them elsewhere more cheaply. They also had to sell everything produced to Britain – even if they could get better prices elsewhere. The colonists resorted to smuggling, forcing the British to send warships to patrol American coast. The Stamp Act was the last straw. Every newspaper, marriage license, will, diploma and land deed had to carry the British stamp which they have to pay for, before they could be considered legal.

People were furious. Riots broke out in Boston. There were demonstrations and speeches against the British. Americans did not mind paying taxes to their local government because they elected their own representatives. But there was nobody to represent them in the British Parliament.

The Boston Tea Party

In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts. These placed high taxes on tea, cloth and other British goods.  The people were furious. By December 16, 1773 three British ships, laden with 90,000 pounds of tea, were riding peacefully to the harbor. Parliament had repealed the Townshend Acts, except for the tax on tea. The British Prime Minister, Lord North, had granted the British East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade.

Americans were outraged! If Britain could grant a monopoly on tea, she could grant monopolies on everything the colonies needed. After a fiery protest meeting, a group of colonists dressed up as Indians marched two by two down to the waterfront. After the wharf, they divided into three groups. The sailors handed over the keys to the holds without a fight, and the “Indians” got to work. They hoisted the heavy chest of tea on deck, split each open and dumped the loose tea overboard. When the sun rose the next morning, piles of tea could be seen floating on the tide. This incident became known as the Boston Tea Party.

To punish Boston further, British warships arrived on June 1, 1774, to close Boston Harbor. Church bells rolled from morning to night. Public buildings were draped in black, and people mourned.

The Liberty Bell tolls as America’s Independence is declared

By now, war seemed almost certain. The colonies knew very well that Britain could crush them one by one.   It was unite or die. Fifty-six delegates from the colonies convened at the Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress on Sept. 5, 1774.  The Continental Congress voted to condemn the Intolerable Acts and passed a bill of rights, listing the freedoms that all Americans had a right to enjoy.   No British goods would be purchased or even used. And no more slaves would be imported into the United States. Delegates who hoped for peace drew up a petition to King George.

When the Second Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, the delegates drafted the Olive Branch Petition—an appeal to King George. But the King refused even to receive the Olive Branch Petition. Instead, he announced that the colonies were in a state of rebellion, and readied his forces for war. Congress also began preparing for war. The colonial militias weren’t strong enough to meet the British army. Congress authorized the creation of a regular army. It appointed George Washington “General and Commander-in-Chief of the forces raised and to be raised in defense of American Liberty.”

Samuel Adams asked, “Is not America already independent? Why not, then, declare it?” Most delegates agreed with him. After a long debate, Congress  appointed a committee to write a Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was written by Thomas Jefferson, who later became the third president of the United States.