By using the historic retrospective of Boston Tea Party reenactments, we intend to help refocus the attention of our local, state and federal official on doing the business “of the people, for the people”, instead of focusing on narrow special or self interests that only result in higher taxes. This is, after all, governance “by the people” and we intend to be heard.

Bostonian Tea Party
Submitted by g. mann on Sun, 03/01/2009

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. (Franklin)

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object. (Jefferson)

In July of 1776 the Declaration of Independence “gave birth to a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln). A handful of brave American colonists, knowing full well the danger of their separatist actions, stood united against arguably the most powerful force in the world at the time, the crown of England.

But shortly before the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, when the people of the American colonies were struggling under the burden of high taxation set upon them by the oppressive British crown, an idea began to circulate that would soon become the battle cry that birthed this great nation, “No Taxation without Representation”. This idea resonated with the people of that era since, in addition to high taxes, the colonists were given no voting privileges in Parliament, no direct representation in the House of Commons, and no effective means by which to voice or redress their grievances.

On December 16, 1773 at Massachusetts’ Boston harbor, some of the rebels of the early American Revolution disguised as native American Indians, demonstrated their displeasure with the crown of England by boarding three of the British frigates carrying a cargo of tea from the East Indies Company and emptied the contents of the containers into the bay. Their demonstration of civil disobedience signaled a turning point in the affairs between England and the Americas and paved the way for the birth of this new nation.

Though today we live in a different era, we are again plagued by many of the same frustrations that were visited upon our founding fathers. Under the burden of mounting taxation at the hands of local, state and federal governments that seem to have a tin ear for the concerns, affairs and burdens of the average American, fewer and fewer productive, legal, working class Americans or small business owners are shouldering the burden of ballooning ineffectual government bureaucracies, corporate and individual welfare, expanding entitlement programs and government earmark spending. For the past 15 to 20 years, with the exception of providing for our common defense, it seems like the policies advanced by our government leaders have been largely focused upon self-serving interests, narrow special interests, large corporate moneyed interests, special “pork-belly” projects and debt service. Their lack of concern for “We the People” has been at our expense and has mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren.

If you believe that ours is a nation “of the people, for the people and by the people” (Lincoln) and that our representatives “derive their powers from the consent of the governed” (Declaration of Independence)…if you believe that our representatives at the local, state or federal level have violated your trust and faith in their due diligence to serve and represent “We the People of this United States” (Constitution), or if you believe that your elected officials have violated their oath of office “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United State, against all enemies foreign and domestic”, then please consider joining this growing grass-roots movement to shake OUR representative government back to life. If we do not act soon we may loose “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).

This is not cast as an ideological or partisan battle for political gain. This is a battle for the principals and liberties of the American ideal, a responsive representative government as defined and codified by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But this is also a clarion call to all citizens to stand up for your individual and collective rights and freedoms, to shoulder the responsibility of being an informed and involved citizen and to passionately but respectively debate the challenging issues at hand with your friends, neighbors, and representatives, whether you agree or disagree with their politics.

It is healthy to hold differing views and solutions for the improvement of our national treasure and to hammer out compromise together, but “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Lincoln). What is not “OK” as fellow citizens is to cower in fear of “political correctness”, to be intimidated by threats and marginalization by opponents, or for any to stoop to personal or character attacks to stigmatize or polarize the person with an opposing view. For any to employ such tactics is the very definition of “unpatriotic”. Remember that debate involves rules, mutual respect and a component of engaged listening.

Though the original Boston Tea Party lead to the Revolutionary War, it is my hope and fervent belief that an orderly demonstration reenacting the spirit of the Boston Tea Party in the water works of our local seats of government, our state capitals, and our nations capital all across the USA, will inspire a rebirth of the freedoms and liberties of our founders as well as the civic duties and activism that has previously made this nation great.