In “ENOUGH! We are Free!,” Episode #068, Meredith Curtis explains how one event led to another, resulting in our Founding Fathers declaring our Independence. If you are hazy on the details of events leading to the day we celebrate, July 4, 1776, where Ben Franklin declared, “Well, we either all hang together or we’ll all hang separately” and John Hancock signed his lavish signature big and bold, saying, “There now the king can read it without his spectacles!” join us. Meredith shows how the Great Awakening, the French and Indian War, the Proclamation Line of 1763, the Boston Massacre, the seizure of the Liberty, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s Ride, Patrick Henry’s Speech, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and more led to our Founding Fathers deciding, “Enough! We are declaring ourselves to be a free and independent nation with God’s help.” Take a whirlwind tour of several decades culminating in the signing of our precious Declaration of Independence.

 

 

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Show Notes

Our history is British. The 13 American colonies who became the United States of America were all British colonies.

English Common Law

Rights that Englishmen enjoyed:

* representative government

* trial by a jury of peers

* accused faces accusers

* protection of private property

* everyone from King to peasant accountable to God and the law of the land

Colonial Autonomy

Colonists from the beginning enjoyed a large amount of freedom and self-government.

* The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact

* the Massachusetts Bay Company stockholders who made decisions for the colony all lived in Boston

* New England enjoyed town hall meetings

* Virginians elected representatives who enjoyed autonomy

Great Awakening

Revival brought unity that crossed denominational lines that often separate people. Revival erased the division of colony boundaries.

French & Indian War

Trained the colonists for war, taught them to work together against a common enemy.

Big problem: The British soldiers would not go home.

Proclamation Line of 1763

To keep their word to the Native Americans who fought on the side of the British, Parliament passed a law protecting land west of the Proclamation Line of 1763 for the Native Americans.

Taxes

Parliament taxed the American colonists here, there, and everywhere. Most of it was to pay off the debt from the French and Indian War, but some was just because they could.

Representatives from several colonies also met together and sent a protest letter to the king. In 1766, Founding Father Ben Franklin traveled to London, appearing before Parliament, asking them to repeal the Stamp Act.

Repeal the Stamp Act they did. However, the passed the Declaratory Act right away saying, “we can pass any law we want to in the colonies!” It was like a slap in the face. British citizens were supposed to have representation. The cry began, “No taxation without representation!”

The New York Assembly voted to ignore the Quartering Act on December 15, 1766. They refused to fund the British soldiers. Outraged, King George III, disbanded the New York Assembly. Things were heating up!

Mercantilism

Mercantilism, or using protectionism to restrict trade in the colonies in order to fill the Mother country’s treasury,