When news of the first measures that came to be known as the Coercive Acts reached New York City, the Sons of Liberty sprang to action, calling a large public meeting in Fraunces Tavern. Moderates within the city, fearing that this radical group would take things too far by imposing an embargo that would cripple the finances of local merchants, schemed to coopt the proceedings. Radicals ...
The Boston Port Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain March 31, 1774. The Boston Port Act was designed to punish the inhabitants of Boston, Massachusetts for the incident that would become known as the Boston Tea Party. The Port Act was one of a series of British Laws referred to as the Intolerable Acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain 1774. The Boston Port ...
On the 4th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, 1774, John Hancock, who would be the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, stated: “Will not a well-disciplined militia afford you ample security against foreign foes? We want not courage; it is discipline alone in which we are exceeded by the most formidable troops that ever trod the earth… A well-disciplined militia is a safe, an honorable guard ...
On December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty, many dressed in disguise as Mohawks, boarded three British ships docked in Boston harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the chilly waters of Boston Harbor. The sunken chests held over 45 tons of tea, worth almost $1 million today. Many believe the colonists’ actions had been spurred by the words of Samuel Adams during a meeting ...
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 ...
On July 8, 1772, Edmund Massey preached a sermon at St. Andrew’s Holborn of London entitled A sermon against the dangerous and sinful practice of inoculation. This text was republished and circulated in Boston, with Massey denouncing inoculation as a dangerous and sinful attempt to escape God’s judgment or to avoid the testing of one’s faith. Instead of receiving inoculation, Massey argued that one should trust the Lord ...
Benjamin Franklin on the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, written November 29, 1766: "I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." ...
In an effort to raise funds to pay off debts and defend the vast new American territories won from the French in the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), the British government passes the Stamp Act on this day in 1765. The legislation levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, from newspapers and pamphlets to playing cards and dice ...
By the mid 1700's Britain was at its height of power, but was also heavily in debt. Since the creation of the Bank of England, they had suffered four costly wars and the total debt now stood at £140,000,000, (which in those days was a lot of money). In order to make their interest payments to the bank, the British government set about a program to ...
The miraculous story of 'The Bulletproof President' once appeared in virtually every student text in America. At the Battle at the Monongahela, Washington and the British army were ambushed by the French. Every officer on horseback was killed except Washington. He later wrote to his brother John on July 18, 1755: But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability ...
