Today and Then, the Wisdom Applies

In March 1765, well before the American Revolution, the British government passed a “Stamp Act,” which among other things levied a direct tax on most forms of paper, including pamphlets, newspapers, legal documents, etc., thus directly impacting dissemination of information and otherwise affecting the life of the British citizens who were American colonists.  Riots ensued in Boston, where John Adams noted that this Stamp Act had actually activated the citizenry, making them “more attentive to their liberties, more inquisitive about them, and more determined to defend them,” and Adams warned of the “danger of thralldom to our consciences from ignorance, extreme poverty, and dependence, in short from civil and political slavery.”  That same year, Adams wrote some things quoted below that might be helpful for us to consider today (italic emphasis in this quotation is mine. GT).

Speaking of the actions of the justly enraged public protests, Adams said:

“…This spirit, however, without knowledge, would be little better than a brutal rage.  Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore the means of knowledge.  Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.  Let every order and degree among the people rouse their attention and animate their resolution.  Let them all become attentive to the grounds and principles of government, ecclesiastical and civil.  Let us study the law of nature, search into the spirit of the British constitution; read the histories of ancient ages; contemplate the great examples of Greece and Rome; set before us the conduct of our own British ancestors, who have defended for us the inherent rights of mankind against foreign and domestic tyrants and usurpers, against arbitrary kings and cruel priests, in short, against the gates of earth and hell.  Let us read and recollect and impress upon our souls the views and ends of our own immediate forefathers, in exchanging their native country for a dreary, inhospitable wilderness.  Let us examine into the nature of that power and the cruelty of that oppression, which drove them from their homes.  Recollect their amazing fortitude, their bitter sufferings—the hunger, the nakedness, the cold, which they patiently endured—the severe labors of clearing their grounds, building their houses, raising their provisions, amidst dangers from wild beasts and savage men, before they had time or money or materials for commerce.  Recollect the civil and religious principles and hopes and expectations which constantly supported and carried them through all hardships with patience and resignation.  Let us recollect it was liberty, the hope of liberty for themselves and us and ours, which conquered all discouragements, dangers, and trials.  In such researches as these, let us all in our several departments cheerfully engage—but especially the proper patrons and supporters of law, learning and religion!”