Page 78 - Beers With Our Founding Fathers

Beers with our Founding Fathers

oppression of the colonies, including being self-governing.

parliament allowed the king to enact legislation and levy taxes upon
the colonies by combining those of other colonies of the empire

with those in North America. This included quartering soldiers,
levying taxes without representation or consent of the colonies, and

revoking a right to trial by jury and venue – to be tried in England.
The grievances and abuses outlined were concluded with abuses

twenty-three to twenty-seven. These referred to the king and his
abandonment of the colonies in favor of war against them. The acts

of war included suppression of the revolting colonists by military
violence against them – including by mercenaries, forced

occupation, destruction of personal and real property – even entire
towns – by fire, attacking and scuttling of colonial ships, kidnapping

and conscripting colonial sailors to the English navy, failure to
protect the colonies from native Indian attacks, and forcing colonists

against each other at the will of the king.
Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner, detailed the abuses and

slavery in about one-quarter of the original draft. It was contended
that the king protected slavery in the colonies. The Congress

redacted these references for fear of being rejected by the southern
colonies.

The Declaration of Independence did not set out to form a
government, only to form an independent country, proudly so

named the United States of America. It detailed an affirmation and

identity, as well as independence justified by unconscionable
grievances. Moreover, it defined that a free people were self-
governing with unalienable rights from birth.

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