Lady Godiva

I would bet that if you asked 100 people on the street what Lady Godiva did, almost all would say she rode a horse naked.  But if you asked them if this was a legend or true, I would bet that most people would just say it's an old legend.  Not so, it actually happened July 9, 1040.  And I would bet that even fewer could say why she rode naked.  She did so to get her husband, Lord Merci, to remove his tax on the people.  You might say that Lady Godiva was the first Tea Partier.  And almost nobody realizes today that taxes were rare things, only levied when the kingdom was in peril, usually levied by tyrants and other hated rulers, and often pertained to only the nobility, i.e. the rich.  So when Oblamer says he only wants to tax the rich, he has good company in tyrants and rulers held in contempt.

Dates, dates.  Apparently the Continental Congress voted on July 2, 1776 to abolish all ties with England and adopted the Declaration of Independence.  But the printer took two days to publish copies for distribution.  When they were finally available on July 4, the Liberty bell rang to alert the people.  Jefferson and Franklin thought that July 2 would be duly observed by future generations, but they were wrong.  July 4 was adopted.  On July 9, Washington read the Declaration to his army.  The British came and drove Washington out of New York but that was in August. So the battle didn't start, the Declaration was not signed, but July 4 is our national holiday.

But then you ask why the colonies signed a Declaration of Independence and most people would flunk.  A lot of folks think it was because "No Taxation without Representation."  That is only one of over 20 reasons for secession and it is #14 on the list.  The first dozen are about abuse of power.  Evidently the 'straw that broke the camel's back' for the colonies was the king's refusal to allow them to convert the Indians to Christianity.  The King was head of the Anglican church and he distrusted all the other Christians of the colonies.  Plus, Indians made a good buffer against colonists going over the mountains, like Daniel Boone and his crew did.  On the other hand, the Americans found that Indians who adopted Christian faith suddenly became good friends, trading partners, scouts and guides, and no longer tried to burn down the cabin.  Sharing the gospel was their duty!  So they formed cooperative Bible Societies to distribute scriptures to the Indians and Missionary societies to speak to them about faith.  King George disallowed these endeavors and it really steamed the colonists.  Then he took away their right to militias and guns, sent his minions to harass with government regulations, taxed them as in insult, and mandated citizens buy his army dinner and provisions.  Sound like anybody you know?