1776 Begins in 1215 (The Road to American Independence Began at Runnymede)

[Komissar al-Blogunov]

Happy 4th, Comrades!

The longer version of John Adams’ famous quote about the origin of the American Revolution runs thus,

“But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. While the king, and all in authority under him, were believed to govern in justice and mercy, according to the laws and constitution derived to them from the God of nature and transmitted to them by their ancestors, they thought themselves bound to pray for the king and queen and all the royal family, and all in authority under them, as ministers ordained of God for their good; but when they saw those powers renouncing all the principles of authority, and bent upon the destruction of all the securities of their lives, liberties, and properties, they thought it their duty to pray for the continental congress and all the thirteen State congresses.”

Indeed, I don’t think it’s stretching a point to say that the American Revolution began in a field near Runnymede, England, in 1215 when King John was coerced into signing Magna Carta.

There are many threads that weave the American tapestry, but that tapestry is woven on an English frame. English history has informed our language, our law, and our tradition of suspicion of excessive power concentrated in the hands of a few.

But what happened at Runnymede? To simplify, a number of English barons stood up for their rights against the concept of an absolute monarchy. There was a revolt, and King John was forced to sign Magna Carta which, among other things, limited his power to tax, required due process of law before a conviction, trial by a jury of peers, and a somewhat harsh check on the king’s power at the end of the document. What did Magna Carta do for English serfs? Not much, but the principles set in motion would echo in our Declaration of Independence and not long after in our Constitution more than 500 years later.

For contrast to Magna Carta in 1215, consider Ivan the Terrible who ruled as Grand Prince of Moscow and then Tsar of all Russia just three centuries later. There was a similar struggle between Tsar and boyars, the equivalent of English barons, but in this struggle, Ivan got the upper hand. To secure his hold on power, he created the infamous Oprichniki. The Oprichniki were Ivan’s utterly loyal, efficient, and absolutely brutal enforcers accountable to none but the tsar. This set in motion for Russia the absolutist rule enforced by terror that exists to the present day. History matters.

But back to America. It’s 1620, and a small group of Pilgrims and “Strangers” board the Mayflower and set out to establish a colony in what was then the vast section of the Virginia Territory chartered to the Plymouth Company. Due to a storm which would land them in modern day Massachusetts in November, a hasty document was formed which we remember as the Mayflower Compact. Acknowledging God first and King James I next, the signatories to the compact submitted themselves to a government of their own creation. In other words, self government. The Mayflower Compact was born of a crisis and necessary to the survival of the colony, but it also contained the germs of future American government.

Not twenty years after the Mayflower Compact, there is drafted another seminal document - The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639. The orders are considered to be America’s first constitution. It was created to govern the settlements of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield along the Connecticut River. It included elements of popular government in which citizens voted for their representatives, established term limits, had an early form of separation of powers, and even a provision for voter fraud. Strikingly, the document makes no reference to Charles I, then the English monarch. Once again, the signatories agreed to abide by the laws of a government of their own creation.

But what of England in the meantime? Tension boiled between King Charles I and Parliament in the 1600s and led to Charles being confronted with the English Petition of Right in 1628. Parliament was with justice accusing Charles of neglecting the rights of Englishmen laid out in Magna Carta, and the Petition of Right was an effort to rein in those powers which Charles was exceeding. Harkening back to Magna Carta, the Petition of Right reminded the king that his power was not absolute, he must consult Parliament in regard to taxation, he must respect the rights of his citizens, and that there must be due process of law. The result was civil war and ultimately the execution of Charles.

With the passage of more tumultuous English history, we arrive at the Glorious Revolution when William III and Mary II ascended to the throne after ousting James II in what amounted to an essentially bloodless revolution. But by this time, Parliament holds the power, and William and Mary must give their assent to the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Once again the recurring themes of limited royal power regarding legislation and taxation appear. Once again the king must respect due process of law. The English Bill of Rights even includes provisions for Protestant citizens to arm themselves for self defense and “That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” which became the eighth amendment to our Constitution.

How important were Magna Carta, the English Petition of Right, and the English Bill of Rights? William Pitt the Elder called those documents, “the Bible of the English Constitution.” Pitt’s career saw service in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and he briefly served as Prime Minister during the French and Indian War in which he became the moving power behind ultimate British victory. He was also one of the very few English politicians who understood Americans and warned strenuously against slighting and antagonizing us.

There were 3,000 miles of ocean between us and the English mother country, and with troubles at home in England in the form of civil war, American colonists became used to making their own way. By degrees, Americans began to become a unique and different people as Adams observed.

By 1775, things had come to a head between America and Britain. The tension between colonial legislatures and King George III remarkably paralleled the previous conflicts between barons and King John, Parliament and Charles I, and Parliament and James II. The 150 years of colonial self rule was to be taken away, the authority of elected colonial legislatures was to be ignored, and American colonists who were born English citizens were to be treated as second class subjects under absolute rule. Patrick Henry called Americans to fight, and the aptly described “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired on April 19, 1775. Blood was drawn.

One more attempt was made for peace in July of 1775 with the Olive Branch Petition submitted by the Second Continental Congress to George III, but to no avail. Now, in the eyes of many colonists, the choice was revolution or submission to slavery. The next year, that same congress would publish one of the most significant documents in world history - the Declaration of Independence.

Many nations have declared independence and some have succeeded in achieving it, but it’s the principles set forth in our declaration that make it so transformative on the world stage. Our declaration states boldly that all men are created equal, that our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are God given. Further, legitimate governments protect those rights and exist by the consent of the governed.

What follows next is called the bill of indictment in which Thomas Jefferson articulates the failings of George III. Accusations include shutting down colonial legislatures, eliminating due process of law, doing away with trial by jury, taxation without the representation of colonial legislatures, and acts of violence against American colonists. A familiar list of abuses known to previous generations of Englishmen.

The signers of the Declaration were not naive. They knew a traitor’s death awaited them if the Revolution failed, and the outcome was hardly certain. In a grand act of open treason, they declared that 13 formerly English colonies “are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do.”

Knowing they had crossed the Revolutionary Rubicon, the Declaration concludes with, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” They meant it, and we are blessed today by their sacrifice.

On this 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration, we not only celebrate independence, but also those special ideals of government which have made us a nation that while imperfect, yet remains free, prosperous, and powerful.

Also on Substack:

https://edgleason.substack.com/p/1776-begins-in-1215