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August 30, 2011                                        all  of  us ...share  this  orb  4  a short time ???

“Who we are, is who we were”

By Steve Bussey

Topics:
American Essay

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! Patrick Henry – March 23, 1775
When I remember that George, Benjamin, Thomas, Hezekiah and William Bussey were Continental Soldiers beginning in 1775 I am ashamed and embarassed by my inaction.
Modern Americans tremble and cower instead of speaking out for liberty because someone might call them racist, mean-spirited, greedy, homophobic, Islamaphobic and more. We are cowards. From what did our Founders cower? What did our Founders risk while we won’t risk being called a meaningless name?
I watched the movie “Amistad” the other day for probably the tenth time and each and every time I watch it I shake my head in shame when comparing early America to modern America. I just cannot believe what Americans are allowing to happen in modern America; the lies we countenance, the usurpations of our liberty, the outright political lies and revision of history.
In the movie the actor Anthony Perkins plays the character John Quincy Adams and he has a line when arguing the case before the Supreme Court that “who we are is who we were,” and I love that line even though it always causes me to lament our current state.
It is amazing to me what our Founders were willing to do for what today seems like such miniscule usurpations of their God-given liberty versus what we in modern America are willing to accept.
Think about it for a moment. What caused the American Revolution?

Proclamation of 1763
On October 7, 1763, King George III issued a royal proclamation which forbade American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was intended to stabilize relations with the Native American population, most of which had sided with France in the recent conflict, as well as reduce the cost of colonial defense. In America, the proclamation was met with outrage as many colonists had either purchased land west of the mountains or had received land grants for services rendered during the war.
Think about how our federal government controls your land through the EPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and so much more. Think about your state and local government control over your land.
Since the mid-1600s, British trade had been regulated through a set of laws known as the Navigation Acts… In an effort to increase revenues during the latter years of the French & Indian War, the British government began cracking down on American smugglers.
Customs officials were empowered with writs of assistance (transferable, open-ended search warrants), which permitted them to search warehouses, homes, and ships on a whim without cause. Angered by this trampling of their rights, colonial merchants voiced their disapproval. In 1761, Boston lawyer James Otis challenged the legality of the writs in court arguing that they violated the constitutional rights of the colonists. Though defeated, Otis’ performance set the stage for increased colonial defiance of British policy.

What about the “Patriot Act” that so many libertarians have a problem with? Did you know that a U.S. Customs official that suspects you of smuggling can follow you to your home and if he doesn’t lose sight of you he can enter your home and search without a warrant? I know because I used to be the NCOIC of Military Customs at Dyess AFB, Texas in the early 1980’s.
We sit around and bitch and complain about these things while our forefathers took up arms.

New Taxes & Boycotts
As the British government assessed methods for generating funds, it was decided to levy new taxes on the colonies with the goal of offsetting some of the cost for their defense. Passed on April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act placed a tax of three pence per gallon on molasses as well as listed specific goods which could be exported to Britain. While this tax was half of that stipulated by the 1733 Sugar and Molasses Act, the new Sugar Act called for active enforcement and struck the colonies during an economic downturn.
The passage of the Sugar Act led to outcries from colonial leaders who claimed “taxation without representation,” as they had no members of Parliament to represent their interests.

Are our local, state and federal governments looking for new revenues? Are they increasing taxes, with or without representation? Do President Obama and liberals keep calling for increasing taxes on the rich – for the rich paying “their fair share?”

On March 22, 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act which called for tax stamps to be placed on all paper goods sold in the colonies. This represented the first attempt to levy a direct tax on the colonies and was met by fierce opposition and protests.

Is there a modern corollary here? Not a single thing in America moves without being taxed. Even our modern electronic communications are taxed at the local, state and federal levels. My city taxes my utilities that they don’t even provide!

Townshend Acts to the Boston Massacre
Still seeking a way to generate revenue, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts on June 29, 1767. An indirect tax, the acts placed import duties on commodities such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea. In addition, they created three new Admiralty courts in the colonies and reaffirmed the legality of writs of assistance.

Again, can this tax even compare to what we suffer today? There was no income tax then, no Social Security tax, no Medicare and Medicaid tax and no utility taxes. Colonists did not pay an average aggregate tax burden of between 40 and 50% as modern middle class Americans now do. Do we have representation in Congress for those taxes or do we have misrepresentation? Do we just have the illusion of representation?

The Tea Act & The Boston Tea Party
On May 10, 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act with the goal of aiding the struggling British East India Company. Prior to the passage of the law, the company had been required to sell its tea through London where it was taxed and duties assessed. Under the new legislation, the company would be permitted to sell tea directly to the colonies without the additional cost. As a result, tea prices in America would be reduced, with only the Townshend tea duty assessed. Aware that this was an attempt by Parliament to break the colonial boycott of British goods, groups such as the Sons of Liberty, spoke out against the act.

Okay, read the above again. The price of tea was going to go down for the consumer but there was a greater philosophy involved. Do we even give a rat’s butt about the philosophies of freedom today? No. And again, does this tax even remotely compare to the taxes we pay today? No.
I understand that modern society and modern government cost more today than in colonial days, but I’m speaking about the grander philosophies of freedom here. Modern Americans have abandoned the philosophies.

The Coercive/Intolerable Acts
In response to the colonial attack on the tea ships, Parliament passed a series of punitive laws in early 1774. The first of these, the Boston Port Act, closed Boston to shipping until the East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea. This was followed by the Massachusetts Government Act which allowed the Crown to appoint most positions in the Massachusetts colonial government. Supporting this was the Administration of Justice Act which permitted the royal governor to move the trials of accused royal officials to another colony or Britain if a fair trial was unobtainable in Massachusetts. Along with these new laws, a new Quartering Act was enacting which allowed British troops to use unoccupied buildings as quarters when in the colonies.

Our federal government may not appoint our state and local politicians but does it not dictate policies to them? Is the federal government not passing laws and regulations that force United Nations policies in our schools and over our lands? Hasn’t the federal government just about rendered our state and local governments little more than administrative subdivisions of the federal government?

In the spring of 1775, Gage began a series of raids with the goal of disarming the colonial militias. On the evening of April 18, Gage ordered some of his troops to march to Concord to seize munitions and gunpowder. The next morning, British troops encountered colonial militia in the village of Lexington. While the two forces faced off, a shot rang out. Though the source of the shot is unknown, it touched off eight years of war.

Are we not being disarmed? Did you know that the federal Department of Education has a SWAT team and conducts several raids each year for student loans they claim involve fraud? How easy is it for the IRS to seize your property and did you know the burden of proof is on you and not the IRS?
I guess at the end of the day our Founding Fathers didn’t realize how good they actually had it in comparison to our modern society with government usurpations and abuses and they couldn’t have.
Compared to modern Americans our Founders appear to be petulant children throwing a fit in the local Wal-Mart. Who the hell were those guys anyway?
Have you ever considered how much they risked and paid for how little those problems now seem with our modern perspective? I’ll just close with their story:

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and
his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more.