On August 14 of the year 1765, a group of protesters furiously gathered in the streets of Boston and under the Liberty Tree. The “Sons of Liberty” wanted to protest unjust British taxation. It was the beginning of a movement that would turn into the American Revolution.
Especially in this year of America’s 250th birthday, it is too easy to take independence for granted. It is also unfortunately true that in the U.S. now, many citizens are uninterested in learning our own history. But we need to know history, because we are facing a domestic crisis that I believe is as pivotal as the external threat from Great Britain that once galvanized Patriot colonists.
It all began with the so-called Loyal Nine, a group of tradesmen in Boston who in 1765 got together to discuss their fury at taxation without representation. They organized and supplied protests. Eventually the Sons of Liberty grew from this little group. The British began to take serious notice of these Sons of Liberty after the August 1765 protest under the Liberty Tree on Boston Common.
It would be years before Patriots would take up arms against the British, and even more years before there seemed to be any progress against the powerful British empire. The English even cut down the Liberty Tree in 1775, according to the National Constitution Center.
Sam Adams, fiery Patriot orator, said of Aug. 14, 1765 that it was “a Day which ought to be forever remembered in America, [when those] animated with a zeal for their country then upon the brink of destruction, and resolved, at once to save her.” But the renewal of America, the revolution, did not happen actually at once. It took decades.
Related: ‘Total Victory’: Trump Marks WWII Victory Over Japan Day
Sometimes, as we wage the culture war, it is easy to get discouraged. This is especially true given the scale of election fraud confirmed and uncovered this year, the apathetic acceptance on the part of so many people of such evils as abortion and antisemitism, the fact that anti-American leftists have taken over seemingly all of our institutions, and the ongoing existence of the Deep State. But if there’s anything we should learn from the 1765 protest that happened more than a decade before America declared independence and more than two decades before the Constitution came into existence, it is that worthy revolutions — whether military or cultural — take time.
The Patriots of the 18th century were facing not only troops from overseas, but also a significant number of Loyalist colonists. It is believed that only about a third of colonists at the time in America enthusiastically supported the cause for independence. Nowadays, it seems also as if only a minority of Americans really love this country, but that doesn’t mean we cannot win the culture war. The determining factor is whether we are as zealous, as persevering, as brave, and as sacrificial as the Founding generation. Are we willing to risk ourselves not just once or twice, but over and over again, perhaps over a period of ten or 20 or 30 years?
The miracle of American independence began with nine men. From humble beginnings grow victories as great as the Liberty Tree once was on Boston Common. And unlike a physical tree, tyrants cannot cut down the patriotism that lives in men’s hearts and minds.
