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A full two years before the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, the people of the New England countryside had declared themselves ipso facto free and independent of Britain. In one farm town after another, seeking permission from no one, they booted out their royal rulers, substituting makeshift political organizations that Edmund Burke, back in England, recognized as historically significant. In "Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America," Jack Rakove quotes Burke telling the House of Commons that, in America, "a strange new, unexpected face of things appeared. Anarchy is found tolerable." America may have been "conceived in liberty," but the home-grown arrangements that came to represent government to the country people were not composed of civil libertarians. They did not share the Enlightenment sensibilities of, say, Thomas Jefferson. The Sons of Liberty, the Committees of Observation and other ad hoc assemblies eagerly snooped on their neighbors; forced the signing of loyalty oaths; seized property; and tarred, feathered and otherwise terrorized suspected British sympathizers. full article -- > > < > http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703957904575252780078815668-lMyQjAxMTAwMDIwMzEyNDMyWj.html > > > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
