When I toured the Adams' birthplace yesterday, they quoted John Adams upon his arrival in the court of St. James. When King George III asked him to whom he owed his allegiance. John Adams defiantly told him "to myself, your majesty".
The Battle of Lexington and Concord is the same battle being fought today, and the participants are the same today as they were then. Our society today revolves around the question of who will decide how your life plays out and to what or whom you owe your allegiance.
The british soldiers at Lexington and Concord constitute an interesting conundrum. Many of them were in the army to avoid alternatives, not due to genuine allegiance. In fact, by the end of the battle of North Bridge, some two dozen redcoats had deserted, some of whom joined the Colonials, perhaps more. Some of them were there to get out of prison. Some of them were there to avoid prison for debt. Some of them were there because they had just been laid off in the factories. None of them were ever going to be anything because a British Private, after his expenses were paid, had just enough for food, wine and mirth, and since promotions were for sale, most of them were always going to lead the charge across grassy fields in a land they did not know and for which they did not care under the banner of a government they did not like.
Lexington opened up with these British soldiers, afraid for their lives and fighting in a land far from their home and hearts, who shot their own countrymen in the back when a few, including Captain Parker's relative, refused to leave the green. At this point "Americans" were born. Before that, they were Lexingtonians of the Commonwealth of Massachussetts, or Bristol militia from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but after that shot heard round the world, they fought alongside one another, united by the slaughter of their countrymen. The Redcoats fired at Lexington, not out of spite for the Colonials, but because their Mother Country had no love for them. In their dog eat dog existence, these former convicts, out of work ironworkers, debtors, etc., looked out for themselves. In refusing to care for any of her subjects, Britain lost them all.
The shot heard round the world echoes still. Will you swear allegiance to your own hands as Adams or allegiance to your government as with Earl Hugh Percy and his men. The british, as does our present administration, attempted to set up dominion on the backs of working men. Eventually, these working men could not be driven by their masters, and even some lesser lords urged Cornwallis to surrender.
Death and war cannot stop the fervor or freedom. All they can do is delay it for a while.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord is the same battle being fought today, and the participants are the same today as they were then. Our society today revolves around the question of who will decide how your life plays out and to what or whom you owe your allegiance.
The british soldiers at Lexington and Concord constitute an interesting conundrum. Many of them were in the army to avoid alternatives, not due to genuine allegiance. In fact, by the end of the battle of North Bridge, some two dozen redcoats had deserted, some of whom joined the Colonials, perhaps more. Some of them were there to get out of prison. Some of them were there to avoid prison for debt. Some of them were there because they had just been laid off in the factories. None of them were ever going to be anything because a British Private, after his expenses were paid, had just enough for food, wine and mirth, and since promotions were for sale, most of them were always going to lead the charge across grassy fields in a land they did not know and for which they did not care under the banner of a government they did not like.
Lexington opened up with these British soldiers, afraid for their lives and fighting in a land far from their home and hearts, who shot their own countrymen in the back when a few, including Captain Parker's relative, refused to leave the green. At this point "Americans" were born. Before that, they were Lexingtonians of the Commonwealth of Massachussetts, or Bristol militia from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but after that shot heard round the world, they fought alongside one another, united by the slaughter of their countrymen. The Redcoats fired at Lexington, not out of spite for the Colonials, but because their Mother Country had no love for them. In their dog eat dog existence, these former convicts, out of work ironworkers, debtors, etc., looked out for themselves. In refusing to care for any of her subjects, Britain lost them all.
The shot heard round the world echoes still. Will you swear allegiance to your own hands as Adams or allegiance to your government as with Earl Hugh Percy and his men. The british, as does our present administration, attempted to set up dominion on the backs of working men. Eventually, these working men could not be driven by their masters, and even some lesser lords urged Cornwallis to surrender.
Death and war cannot stop the fervor or freedom. All they can do is delay it for a while.
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