THE WAR THAT MADE US FREE.
For a time all were at peace; but at last a war broke out that
took more time, and cost more men, than all the wars of the
past. You have heard of it, it may be, by the name of the Rev-o-lu-tion.
There are some old men who fought in that war, who are alive
this day. You see the cause of this war came out of what our
men thought to be their wrongs. They thought the rule of Eng-land
too hard, and that they should have their own men to rule them.
They would have gone on as they were, if they had thought that
Eng-land was just to them; but she put a tax on the things they
had to use. She had a large debt to pay, and so she thought
it fair our men should help to pay it; and our men held that
they ought to have a voice as to what the tax should be, and
fix what they knew to be right.
Do you know what a tax means? It meant, in this case, that when
our men bought a thing, they had to pay a few cents more than
its real price, and these few cents were to go to Eng-land.
Of course these few cents from all sides grew to be a good sum,
and was quite a help. Eng-land, at this time, made a law which
we know by the name of the "Stamp Act." This law, which gave
to Eng-land a tax on all deeds, was one great cause of the wrath
of our men. One man made a speech on it that was put in print,
and the boys in the schools spoke it. In all the States men
took the same view; so that the Stamp Act may be said to have
lit the fire which in time made such a blaze.
In all the States men stood up for what they thought their rights,
and they made up their mind that they would not pay this tax
on Eng-lish things, but would learn to make them of their own.
Men and their wives took a vow that the fine clothes from their
old home should not tempt them, but they would spin and weave,
and wear what they made, though it might be poor and coarse.
One brave dame wrote to her friends, "I hope there are none
of us but would wrap up in the skins of sheep and goats to keep
us warm, if we must else pay a tax which is not just on the
goods of Eng-land."
The wrath at the Stamp Act grew more fierce each day, and the
men who were sent to put it in force did not dare to do so.
One was caught and made to say that he would give the thing
up. He was made to fling up his hat and cry as they told him,
three times, in words which meant that they were right and the
King was wrong. No one was found so bold as to put the Stamp
Act in force; and the news went to the King and set him in a
great rage. Some of their own great men were on our side, and
were glad we did not yield.
At last the King gave up the Stamp Act, but said he had a right
to tax us as he chose. There was great joy here at the news
that the Stamp Act was to be heard from no more. The bells were
rung, and flags were flung out on the breeze, and all who were
held for debt were made free. For a year there was no more heard
of a tax; but then a new act came. This tax was made on tea
and glass, and such things, which were in use all the time.
This woke new wrath, and troops had to come out to keep the
peace, which our men said they would not bear. The boys from
the schools felt the wrong, and would call the "red-coats" in
scorn by that name; and the young men made a vow that they would
drive them from the town.
There were street fights each day; and the men were more and
more set to have their rights. The folk wore the rough clothes
which they spun and wove, and would not buy a yard of Eng-lish
cloth. Then they sought to find some plant that they might use
for tea, so that they would not have to buy tea and pay the
tax on it. They must have had some queer drinks at that time.
When the King found they were so set in their way, he gave up
all but the tax on tea. Then he sent three large ship loads
of it here, in the hope that our folk would want it so much
when they saw it, that they would be glad to pay the tax.
But our men had made up their minds that this tea should not
land. So when the tea ships came in, a guard was set on them
by our men as they lay at the wharf, so that the tea should
not be brought to shore. A large crowd of men met in a Hall
in Bos-ton, to say what should be done with the tea; and at
last they gave out, that if the tea were sent back where it
came from, all would be well. But the head man, who was sent
here to rule us by the King, would not do this, and said so.
When this was told to the crowd, a war-whoop was heard at the
porch, and some men in the dress of In-di-ans made a rush down
to the wharf, and went on board of the three tea ships, and
cast all the chests of tea in the bay. Then they went home in
peace and did no one harm. This was the "Bos-ton Tea Par-ty,"
and is so known at this day.
At New York and Bos-ton they did not try to land the tea when
they heard of this, but took it back. At one time the tea was
set on fire. All this made our men more and more set on their
own way; and the King grew in a rage with them. He made some
strong laws, sent troops to Bos-ton, and put in force a bill
called a Port Bill, which would not let a boat go in or out
the port, save that it brought food or wood. One of their own
men stood up and said this was a "bill to make us slaves." And
the wood and food had to be brought in a new route, and not
straight in the bay. Not a stick of wood or a pound of flour
could be brought in a row boat, or straight in from a near point;
it must all go round to the place where the Eng-lish saw fit,
where they could stop it and see just what was there.
Of course this was hard for the good folk of Bos-ton, and they
did not bear their wrongs in peace. They had gifts sent them
by land--of grain and salt fish and sheep. From the South came
flour and rice, and some times gold for the poor. So that the
Port Bill made all feel to them like friends, for all towns
took up the cause of Bos-ton as their own.
This was just what the wise men at the court of King George
had said would be the case. They knew it would make our folk
more strong to drive them with hard laws to fight. And so it
came to pass, as the two great men, Burke and Fox, had said,
King George was set in his way, and would not change, but did
his best to push the laws through. The Bos-ton Port Bill was
one of the things that made the States one. For they had but
one mind on these harsh laws, and stood as one man for the right.
The day when this Port Bill was first put in force, the Town
Hall in one of the towns was hung with black, as for a death;
the Bill was on it, and the toll of bells was heard all day.
If we could have stood in Bos-ton in those days, we would have
seen that there was not much work, and no ships at the wharves
but those of Eng-land. There were guns in view, and men with
red-coats in the streets. There were tents on the green, and
clubs that met each night, to talk of this strange turn in things,
and what was best to do. They did not want war, but saw no way
to get out of it. Great men spoke of it here and there, and
each speech was read at the clubs.
"We must fight," grew to be the cry. But there were some, of
course, who felt sad at all this, who thought it wrong not to
do the will of the King in all things. They said this land would
come to grief, for we were the ones who had the most to lose
by war. These men had the name of "To-ries," and the rest did
not look on them as friends, but held them as foes. Some of
these men went back to their old homes, and came here in the
troops of the King to fight their old friends. Some stayed and
came round to new views, and took part in the wars that came
to pass in time. All knew that the ranks of the King would be
made of men who had fought in wars, and were known to be brave;
while on our side they would be raw men, who did not know the
art of war. But still our men were brave, and they said, with
strong hearts, "The strife may be long, but the end is sure.
We will fight for our homes, for our lands, for the right. We
will be free!"