Sacred Seeds of America... Chris Snyder, Crispus Attucks

[Ed Ziomek]

In all the tumultuous events surrounding American citizens, I would like to recap the minor, simple events which led to the beginning of the American Revolution

While skipping 10 or 15 other significant taxation and legislative burdens imposed on the American colonialists...I would like to highlight the first three significant encounters between British troops and colonialists, in 1770... 5 years prior to the American Revolution...

First Skirmish, Battle of Golden Hill, probably near today's intersection of Gold and John Street, New York City... January 19, 1770

http://home.eznet.net/~dminor/NYNY1770.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1265.html

"...This tense situation worsened in 1767 when Parliament imposed unpopular taxation through the Townshend Acts. Critics of royal policies in New York City showed their displeasure by erecting a liberty pole in what today is City Hall Park; the area became a congregating place for noisy radicals.

The situation changed in late 1769 when new members were seated in the colonial assembly. These moderates promptly voted ₤2,000 for troop maintenance, a move that pleased royal officials, but angered the critics. Alexander McDougal, leader of the local Sons of Liberty, published a pamphlet entitled, To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York, in a successful effort to stir up popular emotions. Soldiers responded by posting broadsides that were uncomplimentary of the citizenry. Clashes on the streets between redcoats and residents occurred with increasing frequency. British authorities responded on January 17, 1770 by dispatching soldiers to cut down the liberty pole, a deliberately provocative act.

Violence erupted from these tensions on January 19. A small contingent of soldiers was detained by a mob and other soldiers soon arrived to rescue their own. The mob grew in numbers, some of whom carried cutlasses and clubs, but retreated to a nearby wheat field called Golden Hill. Taunting continued and the soldiers charged the crowd with fixed bayonets. Several serious injuries resulted, but no deaths. British officers arrived, restored order and sent their soldiers back to their barracks...."

First Martyr...February 23, 1770, death of a 15 year old boy...Christopher Sny Der

http://www.famousamericans.net/christophersnyder/

SNY DER, Christopher, called "the first martyr of the Revolution," born about 1755; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 23 February, 1770. During the excitement in 1770 on the subject of non-importation a few merchants continued to sell articles that had been proscribed, and one, Theophilus Lillie, incurred such displeasure that, in order to mark his shop as one to be shunned, a mob, consisting chiefly of half-grown boys, erected near his door a wooden head on a tall pole, upon which were written the names of the other importers, and a hand pointing to Lillie's shop was also attached. One of his friends, Ebenezer Richardson, attempted to remove this figure, but was pelted and driven into Lillie's house by the mob. Greatly exasperated, he appeared with a musket and fired a random shot into the crowd, which mortally wounded a young lad, Christopher Snyder, the son of a poor widow. Snyder died that evening..."

First Combatant Death, Crispus Attucks, Boston Massacre

"...Incidents between citizen and soldier were frequent; the most incendiary was the so-called Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. On that day a single sentry was on duty at the Customs House on King Street, present-day State Street. An argument broke out between the soldier and a local merchant, who was struck by the butt of a musket during the confrontation. A crowd assembled quickly and began pelting the sentry with a variety of materials — stones, oyster shells, ice, and chunks of coal. Tensions were further heightened when the bells of the city’s churches began to toll, the traditional means of summoning help in fighting fires. Reinforcements under Captain Thomas Preston were rushed in to relieve the beleaguered sentry. The mob taunted the soldiers, daring them to fire, while remaining somewhat secure in the widely held knowledge that the soldiers could not discharge their weapons within the city without prior authorization from a civil magistrate.

At this juncture, someone in the crowd hurled a wooden club at the redcoats. Private Hugh Montgomery was struck and fell to the ground. As he regained his footing, someone — Montgomery, another soldier, or someone in the jeering mob — yelled, “Fire!” The redcoats did so; Preston, who clearly had not given the order, ended the firing and tried to restore order. By that time, however, three colonists lay dead and two others mortally wounded; six others would later recover from their wounds."

Crispus Attucks story...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p24.html

"From little acorns, tall oaks grow."

[Ed Ziomek]

Sadly, tragically, two more names are added to the Hall of Fame of America, young men eager to "serve our country", to "protect our country", and I personally know they had honorable and goodness intentions serving in the military.

Their deaths, and that of the 2500+ other American servicemen who died in this "occupation", and of the 150,000 Iraqi innocents probably killed in this war, and of the 55,000 American wounded, and another 100,000 emotionally scarred, I pray for them too every single day.

At the end of this half-trillion dollar adventure, and that of Afghanistan, the most America can hope for is a guaranteed... departure.

Leave now, leave later, guaranteed we will leave. At the beginning of this adventure, there was no insurgency. At the beginning, there was no al-Zarkawi in the limelight. It is almost as if the American presence is GROWING the problem.

I heard it on Air America, I believe, that after the Kohl bombing, Bin Load complained bitterly that AMERICANS HAVE NOT DECISEVLY RESPONDED!!!

OBL, I sincerely believe, does not want America to leave Iraq!

Our presence is fueling his power! The new media catch phrase is "the Democrats want to cut and run".

No! I say "get the hell out", or at least ..."Get the hell out of the way, let the dominos fall where they will."

There is a HUGE difference between retreating and GETTING THE HELL OUT of a guicksand quagmire!

Our presence is growing the insurgency. Our soldiers will be picked off, one isolated checkpoint at a time.

And what SINGLE ISSUE will keep us there, sacrificing more American and Iraqi and Afghani lives....?

Pride. Foolish pride. One of the biblical seven deadly sins.

And what is Al Qaeda hoping for in this latest massacre? That Americans will stay the course, for more, one-at-a-time slaughter.

How did we win in VietNam? We left. We got the hell out.

And now they are begging for us to come back.