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Heyduke
01-17-2014, 11:57 PM
"We were merry at the idea of making so large a cup of tea for the fishes. [wink wink]"
--Joshua Wyeth

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was organized via email and on social media, Facebook and Twitter, smart phones and tablets. Their plans were uploaded to the Cloud, and... errr, wait a minute. Restart...

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was organized by the Sons of Liberty, who met in secret at taverns, and beneath the Liberty Tree. The Liberty Tree was a great elm which grew near Boston Common. It was the site of one of the first acts of defiance against British rule (vs the Stamp Act), and thereafter became a symbol of rebellion.

"We were so careful," says Paul Revere, "that our meetings should be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore upon the Bible not to discover any of our transactions but to Hancock, Warren, or Church, or one or two more leaders."

“Other towns designated their own Liberty Trees as well. The Liberty Tree in Acton, Massachusetts, was an elm tree that lasted until about 1925. In 1915, knowing that the Liberty Tree was getting older, Acton students planted the Peace Tree, a Norway Maple that still stands today.” –wiki

The first American flag featured a tree, with the words beneath, “An Appeal to Heaven”.


http://wisepursuits.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/200px-appealtoheaven.gif

Though the Sons of Liberty and the Loyal Nine tended to be composed of aristocrats, that’s an assessment relative to the times. They didn’t have central heating in their bathrooms. They travelled on horseback across dirt roads in winter conditions. They didn’t use electricity, they didn’t drink Starbucks, and most of them had lived through close range combat. And, in their campaign against the Brits, they often employed rough gangs and extra-legal forces. Sam Adams was a brewer and an instigator, Revere was a midnight rider and John Hancock was a smuggler. Ironically, they’d be designated as terrorists today and probably be assassinated by drones or taken to Gitmo, pursuant of the Patriot Act.

The Sons of Liberty were a circle of druids, loosely speaking. A druid is neither good nor evil. He is neutral. He seeks balance. He stands always on the lighter side of the scale. He's the devil's advocate. He fights for the underdog. He is, in a word, a rascal. And, say what you will about my ceaseless druid posts, you must admit that the Sons of Liberty were rascals. They loved mother-trucking freedom, goddamit!

They drank together in the Green Dragon Tavern, and they got totaled on strong ale and West Indies rum. They painted their faces, and they wore the headdresses of a Mohawk to show that they were Americans and not English (and to disguise themselves of course). At that time, the Tea Partyers identified with the local tribes who also organized fantastic raids against the Brits.

Nobody knows who exactly snuck down to the harbor that night, slipping like shadows onto the creaking ships. But the songs in the Green Dragon Tavern went on until the break of dawn, and the voices of the revelers carried out onto Boston Common, mingling with the winds through the serrated leaves of the Liberty Tree swaying beneath the pale light of a new moon.
“Rally Mohawks! Bring out your axes,
and tell King George we’ll pay no taxes
on his foreign tea!”- 1773 tavern song


https://gallery.mailchimp.com/fcb0869712bd0e10e3755dd03/images/new_moon.png

Green Arrow
01-18-2014, 02:51 AM
Beautifully written post!