July 4 and American myths

It may be recalled when on April 12, 1770, the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, some Americans, who called themselves Sons of Liberty, were not happy. In most urban areas of America, obscure political hacks such as Sam Adams of Boston had achieved public renown for the first time in their lives by denouncing the threat of British tyranny from the moment of the Stamp Act. The stature of politicians whose popularity depended upon British tyranny diminished inexorably.

Then in 1773, Parliament passed a bill with American implications. In the course of regulating the affairs of the East India Company, the House of Commons made some provisions that made British tea cheaper and therefore, competitive with that smuggled into the colonies from Holland. Sam Adams and others interpreted cheap tea as the means to seduce the Sons of Liberty into subjugation. They saw in it a British design to undermine American liberty. Adams and his followers decided to "venture upon a desperate remedy" to prevent the tea from being landed. On Dec. 16, 1773, 150 Sons of Liberty disguised as Indians boarded three ships in Boston harbour and "in a very little time," according to Sam Adams, "every one of the teas was immersed in the bay, without the least injury to private property."

Of course, the East India Company regarded their tea as private property of some value. In fact, by their accounting, 10,000-pound worth of private property had been wantonly and publicly destroyed, leading to a chain of events which ultimately triggered a full-scale war. However, if Britain ignored Sam Adams and his "Boston Tea Party" and did not impose martial law in Boston, Mr. Adams and his followers would have again lost their standing and like Canada, America would have evolved peacefully as an independent nation within the Commonwealth. Still I have no objection to Americans' celebrating Independence Day as long as they don't forget the real history. Happy Birthday, America.