Minutemen rose up for freedom
by Scott McPherson
Americans revere a great number of dates that hold special significance for their culture and history.
Yet the one day of most importance, to both the nation and its culture, is the one that is conspicuously absent from any mention of notable historical dates. No parades honor the fallen; no speeches in Congress remind us of their deeds; no wreaths are laid; no moments of silence requested.
On this sacred date no president will stand on hallowed ground to remind the American people of the important lessons of the nation’s founding: dedication to freedom — and the example of that principle borne out in dramatic practice.
The day Americans should mark on their calendar every year is April 19. On that day, patriot militiamen from the New England countryside rose up against brute force and oppression. In so doing, they propelled from theory into vivid reality a revolutionary idea: the supremacy of the individual over government.The story begins, of course, long before the actual day itself. For years tensions had been increasing between the North American colonials and their masters in the British government. Disputes over taxes and other British policies had resulted in protests, riots, and boycotts. The Stamp Act, the Revenue Act, the “Boston Massacre,” and the climactic Boston Tea Party were the culmination of a decade of growing conflict. As a result, the city of Boston was garrisoned with large numbers of British troops and its harbor was sealed off to prevent trade under the Boston Port Act, impoverishing the city, and further angering the colonials.
http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0404d.asp