Portfolio: Exam #2: Extrapolations of a Simple Mayor

----As the town mayor I’ve been asked by many of my undecided fellow Marylanders to extrapolate upon my reasons for supporting the patriot cause of independence for America. For some time before the war I was siding with the loyalists, but could see the patriots’ problems with economics. Later, I was reconsidering my views by looking at the political side of the argument. When I reviewed the injustices of the war, it cemented my views against the English right to control our colonies. Because of the continual over taxation, neglect of our British rights, and attacks upon our soil, I have decided to plant myself firmly as a patriot.

----For a while, I couldn’t conjecture why one would be a patriot, so I decided to look first into our economy. I agreed with Thomas Paine when he said “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has the right (not only to tax) but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever” (Paine Writings 68). As Marylanders, this means Britain could not only tax our planters’ land and their sales, but could also, at any point, demand that any of us give up our land or anything else that they wish. This alone was not enough to satisfy me that we should separate from Britain’s wonderful economy. However, looking at the taxes and acts parliament levied before this declaration, one can only decide that Britain was trying to elicit every last drop of wealth from the colonies. ("A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms"). Also, this goes against the very foundations of our colony, in that the original charter for Maryland declared that the ruler, even though he was almost a “Constitutional King”, still had to consult the freemen of the colony before raising a tax (West 42). I believe that these enforced and powerful taxes should not have been able to be levied by a group that is not answerable to any of the taxed (Constitution of Maryland 5).

----After I understood the foundation of the patriots’ economic points, I learned about political arguments Patriots used to justify separation from England. I found that, according to several patriots, the government of England is corrupt for Americans because we have no choice in the representation, because they do not hold the elections in the colony. Also, there is little representation of anyone in the English governmental system to begin with, due to the fact that their government has two hereditary bodies, the King and the House of Lords, which do not have to be elected by the people, and a third party, the House of Commons, which, while it is elected, can be held in check by either of the first two (Paine Writings 71). The government of England is also corrupt because its organization is to complex and nonsensical. It has three bodies, which scrutinize each other. This means, the King can check up on the House of Commons, which assumes that the King is the more intelligent; conversely, the House of Commons can check on the King, which assumes the King is more intelligent(Paine Writings 72-73). According to Maryland’s very own constitution, “The parliament of Great Britain, by a declaratory act, having assumed a right to make laws to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever, to subjugate the United Colonies to an unconditional submission to their will and power” (Constitution of Maryland 3). These points helped me empathize with the patriots and would even make me go as far as to say that the government of the Colonies by England—like the nurturing of a pride of lions—was necessary at their conception but is no longer advantageous or justified for the Colonies. I have come to realize that perhaps we will have to learn from the habits of a male lion, and fight our way out of the pride as a way of proving our adulthood. However, as we go we should expound upon the traditions of our pride (Britain) in a new territory.

----The last thing I looked at was the issue of the war with Britain. First there was the blockade of Boston harbor, to which one contemporary intellectual wrote “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation” (Henry). I will answer his rhetorical question to say that no, they are not needed; they are in fact, acts of war which cannot, in good conscious, be brushed off. They are a slap to the face of America and this challenge should not be ignored. After this act of war, Britain provoked us into fighting them in many battles, but our unseasoned soldiers have conducted themselves as best as could be expected of men not trained for war (Paine Writings 173). One would not expect a man to allow himself to be beat for no reason without implementing self defense. In that same sense, Britain has provoked us into a war, so we should not allow ourselves to be beaten into submission.

----To look at this metaphorically, Britain has been driving us like oxen. They decided that we were owned by them as one owns a slave and they could do with us what they want through the Declaratory Acts. They strapped us with a plow comprised of the taxes they’ve laid upon us. Now that we’re not plowing the fields as they wish, they are trying to beat us into submission with a war. Now is the time to show them what we are truly made up of. Are we beasts, or are we men? I, for one, say that we are men and as such should fight for our right to life, liberty, and property. Great Britain has slighted our fair colonies in 3 different ways, and, being slighted, I am forced to conclude that our recourse should be, not one of submission and reconciliation, but one of recession and rebellion.


Citations:

Maryland, Constitutions of Maryland. 1776, 1851, 1864, and 1867. Maryland: 1905.

Paine, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Paine. 1. G.P. Putnam's sons, 1894.

Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms." Yale.edu. Yale. 14 Nov 2008 .

Henry, Patrick. "Patrick Henry - Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death ." Yale.edu. Yale. 14 Nov 2008 .

West, Willis. The Story of American Democracy, Political and Industrial. Allyn and Bacon, 1922.