Make America Learn History Again: The Sons of Liberty

It’s real history, as told by some Republican man and me

Happy almost 4th of July. I’m celebrating by telling Republican men about America. Specifically today, about the Sons of Liberty. Most American history textbooks will describe the Sons as a group of revolutionaries fighting against British imperialism. What exactly is it they did? Thankfully I found the right man to tell pretty easily.

To set the stage, it’s 1749 and King George II gave 200,000 acres near the Ohio River Valley to the Ohio Company. The Ohio Company was a group of land spectators that then would sell the land to hopeful British colonists. The problem was the land was not for the taking. The French and Dutch had already claimed the land, and of course there were the Indigenous Peoples who rightfully should have had the land.

The British sent troops to fight for the land and protect the colonists. From here I’ll let David help us tell the story.

So it begins. (To clarify some of his upcoming messages, my Facebook profile lists me as a comedian.)

I’ll keep you all updated on if David here ever gets me into connection with Bill. Somehow I’m doubting it.

The Sons of Liberty had a lot of members with names you’ll recognize. It was founded by Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Some of the other members included Paul Revere, Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry and James Otis Jr.

Any history textbook will tell you these men started the revolution. However, their motivation wasn’t for the people, it was for their own wealth. They simply didn’t want to be paying the taxes on molasses and stamps. The stamp act meant they would pay a tax on legal documents. Both these taxes mainly affected the wealthy that had benefited from all this new land. At this point most colonists weren’t bothered by the taxes.

The Sons of Liberty were violent, angry, wealthy and middle class men. Join me this week as I tell more Republicans about them and our American Revolutionary history.

Today’s if you want to read more about it is:

The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America by Gary B. Nash

If you want to listen:

The Beginning of the American War for Independence by Revolution and Ideology Podcast