The Beginning of a Revolution and Birth of a Nation
On March 5, 1770, in the cold streets of Boston covered by almost a foot of snow, stood a lone British sentry. The Sentry was posted in front of the nearby Custom House and was being taunted by a small band of men and boys. Shortly after 9:00 a.m. a church bell rang; an alarm for “fire.” Soon, crowds came pouring into the streets with clubs and sticks. Several hundred appeared at the Custom House. The Sentry was reinforced by only eight British soldiers with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. Their Captain, Thomas Preston, stood with his sword drawn.
Shouting and cursing, the crowd hit the Redcoats with snowballs, chunks of ice, oyster shells, and stones. In this mayhem, the soldiers suddenly opened fire. It was later believed that because the church bell rang for a fire alarm someone actually yelled “fire.” Reacting to the command of ‘fire,’ the solders opened fire. Five colonists died. Such was the Boston Massacre.
The very next day John Adams was asked to defend the eight (8) British Soldiers and Captain Preston charged with killing the five (5) colonists. Adams was 34 years old at the time (old for that time period but not considered elderly). At first, Adams was hesitant. But after searching his soul, conscious, and purpose, he elected to defend the British Soldiers and Captain Preston.Why would one of the most patriotic men of our nation accept such an assignment? The answer lies in his defense of the soldiers.
There were two separate trials: the first, Captain Preston, and, the second, the eight British soldiers. Adams won a not guilty verdict for Captain Preston and later six of the British soldiers were found not guilty (only two of the soldiers were convicted). Adams’ defense rested on the premise the soldiers were reacting to “mob rule.” Adams believed their behavior was simply a matter of self defense. Adams noted that self defense was a basic canon of law. Adams said in their defense, “it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished.” Translated in contemporary times, ‘it is better that 10 guilty men go free, rather than one innocent man be imprisoned.’
Five years later, the colonists were at war with England, the Crown. John Adams would be at the forefront of that struggle. Later John Adams would become the 2nd President of the United States and today is considered one of America’s founding fathers.
Comparison Between Myth and Reality
The Boston Massacre was the result of English troops firing upon civilians. The mob attacked the English troops in the name of an ideology, as discussed below. In the events of January 6, 2021, the mob attacked Capitol Police and seven people died (combination of citizens and law enforcement). When we look at the horrible events on January 6, 2021, the storming of the U.S. Capitol by an emboldened mob, are we looking at another “Boston Massacre?” Are we looking at another revolution? Another civil war? As we break it down below, one can only answer that question with a resounding “NO.” So, lets take a look and compare it to history.
First, the mob of January 6, 2021, was not following an ideology but a man, President Donald Trump. The colonists who attacked the British soldiers in Boston were following an ideology. They believed that it was wrong for the King to tax the colonies without representation in the British Parliament. They also believed it was wrong for the King to allow the quartering of British troops. The colonists had additional grievances as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. They referred to these grievances as “injuries.”
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.” – The Declaration of Independence – July 4, 1776
Again, the mob of January 6, 2021, were not following an ideology. Presently, they still hold a belief that the election of 2020 was rigged. They hold this belief because of one man, Donald Trump. The problem is Donald Trump touted cries of “fraud” and “the election WILL be rigged if I lose,” long before the election was even held. That is what he said, and that is what his supporters believe.
Second, grievances of the colonists were based on facts and reality, not fiction. They state so in the Declaration of Independence, “let the Facts be submitted to a candid world.” Yes, the King quartered soldiers in their homes. Yes, they were unfairly taxed. Indeed, they outlined their grievances in the Declaration of Independence and the King himself did not dispute their quarrels. (I have listed those grievances, from the Declaration of Independence, at the end of this essay. They are long and well enumerated).
However, the mob of January 6, 2021, based their grievances on fiction. They believed the election was stolen from Donald Trump, even after repeated recounts and court hearings revealed no mass election fraud. Some members of the Republican Party even attested that there was no election fraud. However, they believed the myth because President Trump continued with his false rhetoric. No, this was not an ideology but a fictional characterization of an election.
Patriots and Criminals
The British soldiers in which John Adams defended were patriots. They were patriots to the English Crown. The King sent them to New England to assist in governing the colonies after much discontentment toward his Majesty’s rule. So, they reacted as they did when the mob accosted them. In fact John Adams said of the soldiers in his closing argument, “Soldiers quartered in a populous town will always occasion two mobs where they prevent one. They are wretched conservators of the peace.”
The colonists were also patriots. They believed America should stand against England and gain independence. They fought against the laws imposed upon them from the King of England. They believed the laws were unjust and unequal. They questioned, “how could the Crown impose laws on a land so far removed from her hearth?”
The mob of January 6, 2021, were not patriots or idealists. They were an army of one man with one mission, to overcome the election results of November 2020. President Trump summoned them by tweeting a week before Christmas,
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th…. “Be there, will be wild!”
Soon after the riot took place, Representatives Matt Gaetz, R-Fl, and Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, attempted to blame the riots on the radical left-wing group antifa, deflecting any blame on the Republican Party or Donald Trump. Gaetz said on the House floor just hours after the attack,
“If the reports are true, some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.”
Michael Biesecker of OPM.org reported, “The AP found that many of the rioters had taken to social media after the November election to retweet and parrot false claims by Trump that the vote had been stolen in a vast international conspiracy. Several had openly threatened violence against Democrats and Republicans they considered insufficiently loyal to the president. During the riot, some live streamed and posted photos of themselves at the Capitol. Afterward, many bragged about what they had done.”
No, the people who took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are not patriots for what they did. They are criminals who followed, and continue to follow, a falsehood. They have no ideology for what they did.
Let there be no mistake, they are criminals, not patriots.
However, in America, the America for which they attempted to overthrow, they are entitled to a fair trial. It is funny how the wheel goes round. They will now benefit from the justice system John Adams fought for, and gave to the British soldiers in Boston. The difference is both the colonists and even the British soldiers were patriots. The mob of January 6, 2021, can never make such a claim.
Appendix
Grievances Listed by the Colonists Against the
King of England
Source – Declaration of Independence – July 4, 1776
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his
Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to
attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable
to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has
dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness
his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time,
after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative
powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for
their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers
of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent
the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for
Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws
for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their
salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among
us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil
power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their
Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops
among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off
our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our
Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For
transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing
the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing
therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule
into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending
our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate
for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring
us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas,
ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is
at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the
works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of
Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow
Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to
become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by
their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all
ages, sexes and conditions.
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