The Oncoming Revolution, Page 19

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="14c64643.gif" LINK="#0000BF" ALINK="#80028F" VLINK="#660099"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#666666" FACE="Arial" ><B> Ames Family WebSite </B></FONT>     |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Ames Family WebSite "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Table of Contents"><U>Table of Contents</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ames Family History"><U>Ames Family History</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ames Family History Contd, Page 2 "><U>Ames Family History Cont'd, Page 2 </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ames Family History Contd, Page 3"><U>Ames Family History Cont'd, Page 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Coming To New England"><U>Coming To New England</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Coming To New England Contd Page 5"><U>Coming To New England Cont'd Page 5</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Early Settlement Conditons, Page 6"><U>Early Settlement Conditons, Page 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Early Conditions, Contd Page 7"><U>Early  Conditions, Cont'd Page 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Early Conditions Contd, Page 8"><U>Early Conditions Cont'd, Page 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="William Ames of Braintree"><U>William Ames of Braintree</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="William Ames of Braintree,Contd, Page 10"><U>William Ames of Braintree,Cont'd, Page 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Bridgewater Purchase"><U>The Bridgewater Purchase</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bridgewater Puchase Contd Page 12"><U>Bridgewater Puchase Cont'd Page 12</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="King Philips War"><U>King Philip's War</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="King Philips War, Contd Page 14"><U>King Philip's War, Cont'd Page 14</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="King Philips War, Contd, Page 15"><U>King Philip's War, Cont'd, Page 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Puritan Religion, Page 16"><U>The Puritan Religion, Page 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Puritan Religion, Contd,Page 17"><U>The Puritan Religion, Cont'd,Page 17</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The French Indian War"><U>The French & Indian War</U></A>   |   <B>The Oncoming Revolution, Page 19</B>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ames Genealogy"><U>Ames Genealogy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="container.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wind of Change Title 49"><U>Wind of Change Title 49</U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="15258020.gif" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>The Oncoming Revolution, Page 19</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="169c8040.gif" border=0 width="200" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>THE ONCOMING REVOLUTION</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >[9]</FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="181ba0f0.gif" border=0 width="186" height="15" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div>   <B>  B</B>etween the time when <B>William Ames</B> landed in New England and the birth of his great-great-grandson, <B>John</B>, almost exactly a centurty later, our ancestors were probably far too busy building their houses, clearing their fields, feeding large families and attending to their trades to care much what was happening in the mother country. King Philp's War was a purely local peril. They fought it without the aid from overseas, and enlisted in the Canadian expedition not so much to help the British as to prevent similar Indian attacks. indeed, it is unlikely that the first four generations  of <B>Ameses</B> in Bridgewater took any keen personal interest even in the periodic spats between England and the Colonies themselves, except perhaps as lively topics to discuss at their forges or across fence rails. Of course they grumbled when import duties increased the price of English goods and approved when a neighbor, or themselves, set up some industry prohibited by the English Board of Trade, like a smelting furnace. As they passed from hand to hand a bright, newly minted 'Pine Tree' shilling, which, to appear lawful, bore a 30 year old date because England had declared it illegal to coin money in Massachusetts after 1652, they must have grinned at the laxness of their absentee rulers.</div> <bR> <div>     <B> E</B>ngland, on the other hand, made only occasional and half-hearted attempts to govern the Colonies during these early years. At first they had seemed too small and remote to trouble much about, and while they were growing in population and economic importance, she was distracted by her own internal troubles,shifting monarchs, and foreign wars. The strife between Charles I and Parliament, already threatening when <B>William </B>and <B>John Ames </B>of Bruten, broke out in 1642, and only ended with the beheading of Charles and the establishment of a commonwealth under Cromwell. Then followed the Restoration with Charles II, who was succeeded for three unhappy years by his brother James II. James was driven from the throne by his son-in-law William of Orange, who came from Holland pledged to restore religious and civil liberty in England, and who, jointly with his wife, Mary, reigned as William III. Under all these rulers England waqs almost constantly at war, either at home in Scotland & Ireland, or abroad with the Durtch, Spanish & French.</div> <bR> <div>    <B> I</B>t was not until 1763, when the vast domain of Canada was added to her other North American possessions, that she finally awoke to their value and to the vital need of governing them with a firmer hand. She had to set up new centers of administration in Canada, her treasury was exhausted and British merchants were loud in their complaints against Yankees who illegally evaded all import and export duties. It seemed to English statesmen only fair that the Colonies should hereafter meet the cost of governing them and pay something over for the protection of the British armies and navy to which they owed their security and commerce. Especially they felt the need of curbing Massachusetts lest her example infect the other Colonies with <I>"the New England disease</I>' of insubordination, which, as one royal governor wrote, was <I>"very catching."</I></div> <bR> <div>      <B>A</B>lthough England was unwise in choosing her agents and tactless in her methods of attempting to enforce the new imposts, these were not in themselves either unjust or oppressive; and if a firm and reasonable policy had been adopted earlier and consistantly followed, the Colonies might never have revolted, and we, like Canada, be today a contented Dominion.</div> <div>     <B> T</B>he British were probably quite as surprised at the fiery resistance provoked by their new rulings. But the attempt at coercion came too late. Four generations had grown up in America who, though they theoretically acknowledged the Crown, had developed a wholly independent form of government for themselves and successfully evaded almost all attempts to tax or regulate them. It was as if  the father of some young family were so immersed in business cares as to leave his children without discipline or supervision until they became of age and then suddenly tried to assert full parental control. Neither the Stamp Act, the quartering of troops in Boston, The Boston Massacre, nor the 'Tea party' really brought about the revolution. Like the blowing up of the 'Maine' in the Cuban War, or the sinking of te 'Lusitania' in the World War, they were only spectaculasr events which served to fan popular excitement and furnish themes for such oratorical slogans as Wilson's<I> "make the world safe for democracy"</I> or Patrick Henry;'s<I> "Give me liberty or give me death"</I>. It was not to gain additional indepenedence but to preserve the independence they already had that led the Colonies to revolt. The idea of a permanent secession from England was only the inevitable sequel.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>     <IMG SRC="12bf8220.gif" border=0 width="760" height="34" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> [9] The Ames Family of Easton by Winthrop Ames (1938) Pages 58-61.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ames Genealogy"><U><IMG SRC="12c251e0.gif" border=0 width="37" height="30" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <B>Turn For</B></div> <div> <B>Ames Genealogy</B></div> <div> <B>Page 20</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The French Indian War"><U><B>Go Back One Page</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Table of Contents"><U><B>Return To Table of Contents</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Ames Family WebSite "><U><B>Return To Home Page</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Go To Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> </BODY>