Taking Back Our Stolen History
HISTORY HEIST
Civil Rights

Civil Rights

The Powder Alarm

The Powder Alarm

The British became concerned that Massachusetts towns had been withdrawing their gunpowder from the powder houses, so before dawn on September 1, 1774, 260 Redcoats acting on General Gage‘s order sailed up the Mystic River and seized hundreds of barrels of powder from the Charlestown powder house (next to the present site of Tufts University, in what is now Somerville). The only powder that was left ...
Two More 'Intolerable Acts' Passed: The Massachusetts Government Act & Administration Justice Act

Two More ‘Intolerable Acts’ Passed: The Massachusetts Government Act & Administration Justice Act

The Massachusetts Government Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on May 20, 1774. The Massachusetts Government Act revoked the colony's 1691 charter effectively ended the constitution of Massachusetts and  and restricted the number of town meetings that a community might hold and prohibited the election of town officials. The Massachusetts Government Act: Put an end to the constitution of Massachusetts Only one town meeting ...
Benjamin Franklin Becomes America's First Whistleblower when he Discretely Passed Along Some Secret British Government Documents, the Hutchinson Letters.

Benjamin Franklin Becomes America’s First Whistleblower when he Discretely Passed Along Some Secret British Government Documents, the Hutchinson Letters.

Edward Snowden and the NSA documents. Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables. Daniel Elsberg and the Pentagon papers. Benjamin Franklin and the Hutchinson letters? Snowden, Assange, and Elsberg all considered themselves to be self-appointed whistleblowers. Individuals who wanted to open governments by disclosing sensitive government documents. Without a doubt, all three started huge controversies when their confidential documents were leaked. But, should Benjamin Franklin be ...
“The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial” is Published by Judge Samuel Sewall (One of Jefferson's Sources for an Early Draft of the Constitution)

“The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial” is Published by Judge Samuel Sewall (One of Jefferson’s Sources for an Early Draft of the Constitution)

One of the overlooked sources for Jefferson’s early draft was a now largely forgotten pamphlet written by Judge Samuel Sewall in 1700 titled , “The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial.” It is a remarkable document, one of the earliest antislavery declarations published in the American colonies. It’s very much a religious essay. The odds are that Sewall, a prominent Boston Puritan, actually read it in his ...
The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England

The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England

The Articles of Confederation between the Plantations under the Government of the Massachusetts, the Plantations under the Government of New Plymouth, the Plantations under the Government of Connecticut, and the Government of New Haven with the Plantations in Combination therewith: Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus ...
King Charles Delivers the 'Answer to the Nineteen Propositions' to Parliament

King Charles Delivers the ‘Answer to the Nineteen Propositions’ to Parliament

Two of Charles I advisers drafted and persuaded the king to issue a document, His Majesty’s Answer to the Nineteen Propositions of Both Houses of Parliament, in which the king, eager to dismiss his image as a monarch, declared that England was a mixed government and not a condescending monarchy. The Answer was a critical turning point in constitutional history because in it the king proclaimed that ...
The 'Petition of Right' Approved by King Charles I in England

The ‘Petition of Right’ Approved by King Charles I in England

The Petition of Right (see document) is a statement of the objectives of the 1628 English legal reform movement that led to the Civil War and deposing of Charles I in 1649. One of England's most famous Constitutional documents, it expresses many of the ideals that later led to the American Revolution. It was written by Parliament as an objection to an overreach of authority by King ...
John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England

John Ball, a leader in the Peasants’ Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England

John Ball was born in St Albans in about 1340. Twenty years later he was working as a priest in York. He eventually became the priest St James' Church in Colchester. (1) Ball believed it was wrong that some people in England were very rich while others were very poor. Ball's church sermons criticising the feudal system upset his bishop and in 1366 he was removed ...
King John Affixes His Seal to the Magna Carta, an Inspiration for the US Constitution and Bill of Rights

King John Affixes His Seal to the Magna Carta, an Inspiration for the US Constitution and Bill of Rights

"The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history . . . It was written in Magna Carta." --Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941 Inaugural address On June 15, 1215, in a field at Runnymede, King John affixed his seal to Magna Carta. Confronted by 40 rebellious barons, he consented to their demands in order to avert civil war. Just 10 weeks later, Pope Innocent III ...