Let it Begin Here: The Spirit of 75 Reborn
Two hundred and fifty years ago, in a quiet town in provincial Massachusetts, the world would forever change with a single musket shot. Early on the morning of April the nineteenth in the year Seventy Hundred and Seventy Five, 77 men of the Lexington militia under the command of their captain, John Parker stood ready to defy the might of the British Army. Like many militias throughout Massachusetts, the Lexington militia had gathered stockpiles of arms, powder, and munitions, and had diligently drilled in preparation for a conflict which they hoped would not come.
Independent though the colonies were by virtue of being on the edge of the British empire, they still thought themselves as English and therefore it was their King’s sacred responsibility to care for them, protect them, and grant them the freedoms enjoyed by all other British subjects. His repeated failures to do so and repeated injustices committed against them, roused them to action resulting in various resistance groups forming to inform, confront, and protect against the excesses of the mad king and his minions. Most notable amongst these groups were the Sons of Liberty and their rabble rousing leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Thus it was that General Gage ordered an expedition to seize these rebel leaders, clap them in irons, and seize all militia stores and thus it was that Hancock and Adams were warned by the midnight ride of Revere, Dawes, and Prescott on the night of April 18th, the stores hidden, and the Lexington militia was roused to the common green in the early morning hours of April 19th. Their mission was simple. Confront the British regulars and make them turn back. It was an act of defiance pure and simple to stand against the most powerful and well trained army in the world, but those 77 men on Lexington Green that day, chose to do so anyway.
They did not seek violence nor a war, but in the immortal (though perhaps apocryphal) words of their captain, “Stand your ground. Do not fire unless you are fired upon, but if they mean war, let it begin here” and so with that first shot it did. It was not a war of their making, but they were prepared to prosecute it to the fullest and so defend the liberties which were guaranteed to them not only by the law but by divine mandate. We know not who fired that “shot heard round the world”, but it demonstrated to the world that ordinary people will stand against tyrants and despots, kings and dictators, and fight for liberty for not only themselves, but their neighbors even to the point of death.
Today, two hundred and fifty years later, we once again find ourselves on the brink of conflict, and not of our own making. We are once again oppressed, but not by some far off king in distant lands, but instead our very own government and the president who desires to be an almighty king. He cares nothing for those freedoms which countless men and women have fought, bled, and died for. He abuses the powers granted him and seeks to usurp those powers granted to our Congress and our Judiciary. He sends his agents and forces to terrify the population in private homes and the streets, in churches, synagogues, and mosques, and in schools and hospitals. It seems as if no place is safe from his unholy and iron grip.
Yet over the past three months, that immortal spirit that was present in those men on Lexington Green and in Concord, manifest itself yet again. Indeed, the Spirit of 75 has been renewed and in countless cities across our nation, ordinary men, women, and children have stood up and spoken out against the abuses and injustices that this would be king and his minions have committed. We as the citizens of these United States do not stand idly by as our rights are trampled and justice denied. Like those men two and a half centuries ago, who held their ground in the face of overwhelming odds, we too will form the bulwark against tyrants and despots and we shall not rest. We have no kings in this country and we never will.
Like John Parker and his men, we the people shall continue to resist those who would deny justice and freedom to others and we shall never back down, though the odds seem against us. We will continue to stand in the breach to protect those liberties so dearly bought by the 49 brave patriots on that April day in 1775, and the countless more since that day. Let it once again begin here with us today and may we never falter.
Signed,
Gaius Libertus
