11/21/08
Reflections of a New Hampshire Puritan Patriot
It is appalling to me that people of close relation can be segregated by the current political events of early 1776. My cousin Bartholomew, who works in Portsmouth for one of the royal officials, cannot understand why I am a patriot willing to “turn my back on our King,” as he says, and fight for the cause of all thirteen colonies’ independence from Great Britain. He goes on about the good life he thinks we colonists of New Hampshire have lived. I wish no ill upon my cousin, who stands to lose his job, but I must take the long view, and look at the beneficial ramifications of more groups in society participating in government, versus continuing the monopoly of political influence exercised by King George III and privileged economic groups. That is only fair and right, and consistent with the laws of God and nature. Because my Puritanical faith is rooted in religious democracy, it shouldn’t be surprising that I also believe in political democracy, not political tyranny. As I reflect over the past few years, I can easily and simply conclude: I am a patriot because I philosophically favor political democracy over the monarchical politics of Parliament.
Admittedly, since preachers are the main source of our news and political information in New Hampshire, I may be somewhat biased by their opinions. However, clergymen are the best educated element in our colonial society, especially the Congregational clergy (Upton, pp. 56, 60), so they are our most credible source. I look forward to hearing them preach every day when I attend the Congregational church. Eighty-four of 118 churches in this province are of the Congregational sect (Upton, p. 208), and I am thankful that most people with whom I attend church are patriots. Indeed, the Congregational Church has been called “the mainspring of Revolutionary New Hampshire” (Upton, p. 60). Because of the religious support, I am especially steadfast and confident as a patriot. I’m faithful in the righteousness of my position. It was primarily to obtain the freedom to worship as they pleased that my Puritan ancestors came to this continent (Auden & Taylor, p. 42). Food and shelter were not so easy to come by, back then, but those brave pilgrims were free to make their own decisions. Now that the Crown has noted our abundant resources and decided that England should control them, we colonists once again find ourselves needing to escape the King’s selfish and unholy demands. Increasingly, we are protesting “the arbitrary and unjust acts of a Parliament and ministry determined to subvert traditional liberties” (Daniel, p. 217). Sailing away to another continent is not an option this time, but severing our ties to the maniacal monarchy is becoming our sacred duty.
My first personal experience with the monarch’s ridiculous and unfair policies occurred not that long ago, when I worked in the lumbering industry. I profited from entanglement with the British from 1762 until 1768 because land in New Hampshire grows quality pine trees – some giant in height – which are highly regarded for building ships. For decades, ships produced by New Hampshire have been bought by English enterprisers and they have played a significant role in the British empire’s trade ventures (Upton, p. 150). Furthermore, the British Royal Navy prefers our pines over any in the world for the masts of their sturdiest ships built for enormous cargoes (Morison & Morison, pp. 43-46), and they have used innumerable trees for their fleet. But while I was in the lumbering industry, I experienced first-hand the effects of the royal white pine law, which was enforced by the King. This measure ensured that Britain would receive all white pines of twenty-four inches or more in diameter. The largest trees have been emblazoned with the King’s mark, and anyone caught cutting them faces imprisonment and fines (Morison & Morison, p. 46-47; Upton, p. 170). Earlier governors did a poor job of enforcing the law, but in 1768, John Wentworth became governor, and he strictly enforced it (Upton, p.171). Nevertheless, New Hampshire colonists strongly disagree with that precept; their typical attitude is that trees are “gifts of God and Nature” (Upton, p. 171). Certainly the Congregational Church sides with God on this one. I disobeyed the law by cutting down marked trees if I saw fit, as did my fellow workers. However, I quickly wearied of playing cat and mouse with the King’s men, and thus decided to try another line of work.
I chose to resume farming, and so returned to the agrarian roots of my mother’s family, in Hillsborough County, located in the middle of the state of New Hampshire. Hillsborough County consists mostly of farmers (Upton, p. 52). Good land is scarce and communication is difficult, so most of our farms are small and self-sufficient (Upton, p. 2). Abiding faith unites and strengthens us; among us farmers there is a general consensus advocating for patriotism. As a matter of fact, this central section of New Hampshire breeds the most fervent patriots. Our hardy neighbors in lumbering and linen manufacturing join us agrarians as we form the backbone of the Sons of Liberty in New Hampshire (Upton, p. 2). Of course our poorest colonists and debtors, being sorely discontent, also side with the Revolutionaries (Upton, p. 2); truth and goodness know no economic barriers. The income I produce as a farmer is minimal; however, my occupation has no direct ties with Great Britain. This is as it should be, for what I farm is my property, and I may do with my crops what I wish. My occupation as a farmer thus does not conflict economically with my patriotic goal of claiming independence from Great Britain. My comrades insist on resisting unfair taxes levied on household products, like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, which have affected everyone regardless of occupation (Auden & Taylor, pp. 92-93). Any and all taxes we pay should have nothing to do with the King; further, my fellow colonists and I should have a voice in what we pay to our own government (Upton, p. 3). Freedom to be and do as one reasonably pleases, having a say in one’s own governance, all this should be the privilege of the many, not only the aristocratic few.
As I reflect on the Boston massacre that occurred on March 5, 1770, I remember the letter that many received, signed “Consideration”. This letter stated, “O AMERICANS! This BLOOD calls loud for VENGANCE! . . . . Let it be the DETERMINED RESOLUTION of every Man, that a standing Army shall never be permitted in AMERICA, without the free consent of the House of Commons, in the province where they reside” (Upton, 9). As I first read this, I began to feel compassion for the colonists and pity toward the British. It may have been this letter that ignited the resentment which compelled me, in December of 1774, to participate in the seizing of British one hundred barrels of gun powder at Fort William and Mary. (Morison & Morison, p. 70; Upton, pp.22-23, 40) I also helped confiscate the powder and hide it in our private homes.
That very gun powder was recently used, on June 17, 1775, when I served in the battle of Bunker Hill, in Boston, along with more than 900 other patriots from New Hampshire (Teitelbaum, p. 57; Daniel, p. 242), led by our own General John Stark (Auden & Taylor, p. 102). I lost many friends in this battle. Officially, I have killed a total of thirty-two people, all of whom were in the bloody battle of Bunker Hill. Honestly, I am questioning myself on the moral validity of killing another human being. In essence, I am questioning the moral validity of my extremity as a patriot. How do I justify the act of killing another human being on the basis of differing political thought? Many of my religious companions do justify such extreme acts on the basis of this political differentiation. I feel that religious democracy has an inherent holy purpose. Does political democracy have such a purpose? Guardedly but confidently, I am concluding that it does, and is thus worth fighting for. I am a patriot because political democracy has an inherently holy purpose.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Auden, Scott and Alan Taylor. Voices from Colonial America New Hampshire, 2007
Daniel, Jere R. Colonial New Hampshire: A History, 1981
Hill, Ralph Nading. Yankee Kingdom Vermont and New Hampshire, 1960
Morison, Elizabeth and Elting E. Morison. New Hampshire: A History, 1976
Teitelbaum, Michael. Life in the Thirteen Colonies New Hampshire, 2004
Upton, Richard Francis. Revolutionary New Hampshire, Kennikat Press, 1936
Wiener, Roberta and James R. Arnold. Thirteen Colonies New Hampshire, 2005
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