by Don Boys, Ph.D.
Many sincere Christians have confused, conflicting, and convoluted notions about what became the War for Independence or, as some call it, the Revolutionary War. However, it was not a revolution but a war of self-defense, and that fact is seldom discussed in America’s classrooms. When the pertinent facts are known, Americans will have no embarrassment over our “rebel” past.
The Stamp Act of 1765 was a power grab by King George III whereby various publications and legal forms in America would require a stamp (tax) before they could be issued. The colonialists resented the act as being taxation without representation. That same year Virginia’s Patrick Henry weighed in with his speech advocating “no taxation without representation.” England repealed the act the following year.
Things simmered for a while, then came the 1770 Townshend Acts, a tax on goods imported from England. Citizens in Boston protested, resulting in the Boston Massacre where five Americans were killed.
Americans saw a pattern of King George III making a point that he could demand taxes without any input from those being taxed. Colonists erupted in 1773 with the Boston Tea Party when 150 colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped the newly arrived tea into the harbor at Boston. There would be no tax on that tea!
The year 1775 was a pivotal year for the colonists. Late night on April 18, Paul Revere and William Dawes saddled up for their famous midnight ride to Lexington and Concord to warn the locals that the British were approaching to take the guns and ammunition stored there. (Gun control was an issue even back then!) Early on the 19th, 77 Americans were on the village green and faced the well-dressed English redcoats. Eight Americans were killed, and ten were wounded, and many of the redcoats died in their retreat to Boston, being pursued by the colonists who fired from behind trees. By the time the redcoats arrived in Boston, they had 273 casualties and the Americans 95. In June of that year, the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. Please note that at that time Americans were still not talking about separating from their mother country.
Most Americans wanted conciliation, not confrontation with the Crown. They wanted satisfaction, not separation from the Mother Country. Our second President, John Adams’ opinion was that only about a third of the colonists wanted independence, a third supported Britain and a third had no opinion.
On December 22, 1775, King George announced that the colonies were free from British rule through his Prohibitory Act! This crucial fact is almost unknown by modern Americans, and it puts the War for Independence in a completely different light. The Act provided that any ship trading with the colonies would be considered a “lawful prize.” Furthermore, it provided that all American crews could be “impressed” (forced) to serve in the British Navy as if they had chosen to enlist! Also, the cargoes would be sold, along with the ships, and the money would accrue to England. The Act also provided that some of the plunder would be sent to an English hospital, making it more palatable to those Englishmen (in Britain and America) with a conscience.
Sporadic fighting between American patriots and King George’s redcoats continued after the “shot heard around the world” at Lexington and Concord; however, the colonists still did not want to separate from England! It would not be until July of 1776 that frustrated and angry Americans would declare their independence.