Page 77 - Beers With Our Founding Fathers
P. 77
A Patriot’s view of the history and direction of our Country
been provided for limited self-governing, the colonies of North
America were denied that. Therefore, only the complete separation
of the colonies from English rule, to be independent states, was
provided for.
The committee enumerated twenty-seven grievances, with the
first twenty-two attributed directly to the king, and each of these
were to establish a tyrannical government to oppress the colonies
and colonists – heretofore, citizens of England and subjects of the
crown otherwise entitled to the same as their counterparts in
England and other colonies of the empire. It would not be enough
to petition these to the king or parliament, which had failed – it was
now necessary to publish these to the world. In part, to garner
support for independence, financial and military aid, and to
establish diplomacy and trade. Twelve of these grievances asserted
that the king had established tyrannical authority and denied the
representative government provided by parliament to subjects of
the crown. This included that the king interfered with the colonies
making laws for the public good and welfare, rejected legislation of
the same intent, dissolved colonial governments and charters,
appointed his own government and other interferences necessary to
the colonies by establishing a judicial process prejudicial to the
colonies and colonists, and the permanent presence of troops and
requiring the quartering of them by the colonists, without cause or
compensation. These combined grievances were funded by taxes
levied without representation or justification.
The next series of abuses, thirteen to twenty-two, were specific
to the parliament and their contributions to the tyranny and
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