First in the Series: A Civics Lesson
In spite of the title, let’s have some fun with history!
The 250th birthday of the United States will be celebrated with great fanfare in 2026. John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776, a day after the delegates of twelve colonies voted unanimously to approve the Declaration of Independence (Alexander Hamilton of New York abstaining per instructions from his state legislature).
Regarding the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams wrote that it, "...ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."
Adams also wrote that he was, "...well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure that it will cost us to maintain the Declaration."
Much will be written to celebrate the birthday of our nation next year. In this series, we’ll step back in time and take a look at some of the people and events that were precursors to the American Revolution. Those people wrote letters! And we will take a peek at their letters, journals, and proclamations that tell the story of the quarter-century or so in America and Britain that preceded the Revolution.
There might even be a "made up" letter, duly noted, written by some ordinary person that history has forgotten. There must always be a little history to make sense of the way things are. People in colonial times in 1775 were trying to make sense of it all, too.
250 years ago…the shot heard ’round the world as a Revolution Begins
Not unlike the social upheaval churning in America today, colonial citizens 250 years ago in 1775 were frustrated by an upheaval that had begun some years earlier in the period following the French and Indian War. That war was fought by their fathers, or by themselves if they were what we would call the "older folks."
Unlike today, the upheaval stemmed from political, not social underpinnings. When did the upheaval begin? And what caused this unrest that took place in 1775?
It may be important to understand how the colonies were governed from the earliest days of America. There were three general ways in which the colonies received their authority.
A charter colony had received its charter from the king. These were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
A proprietary colony had a proprietor to whom the land had been given by the king. Maryland’s proprietor was Lord Baltimore; Pennsylvania’s proprietor was William Penn. Pennsylvania originally included Delaware.
A Royal colony belonged to the king. New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Georgia were royal colonies.
Virginia was originally a charter colony, but became a royal colony after the king took back the land rights for Virginia. The king was allowed to do that! You may see a pattern here about the power of the king.
Royal colonies belonged directly to whichever king ruled at the time. The status of royal colonies was somewhat precarious since English monarchs considered their authority as having come from God.
Each colony’s seat of government had two chambers: a lower house usually called the assembly comprised of representatives elected by the voters and an upper house we will call the council. Depending on the type of colony, members of the council and the colonial governor were appointed by the king, the proprietor, or by elected by the assembly.
Each colony passed its own laws and ran its affairs more or less like a small country. A colonial legislature’s primary duty was raising money via taxing for the expenses of colonial government. Sound familiar?
These were the types of legislatures our founders would have understood. Except for the king, they were not so different from our state structures today.
However, as all good students of the American Revolution know, the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic seaboard did NOT have representation in the English Parliament! This did not particularly trouble most colonists until later in our story.
But trouble is coming!
Learn more in the next lesson: All Beginnings are Random where we will learn how the Navigation Acts proved England thought of its colonies as children in its vast empire.
To learn more about Convention of States and to become involved, click on www.conventionofstates.com.
