HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:16:35 GMT
Server: Apache
Last-Modified: Mon, 24 May 2010 20:09:56 GMT
ETag: "be1f-9fe26d00"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 48671
P3P: CP="NOI DEVa TAIa OUR BUS UNI STA"
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>The Scarlet Standard #12 - Sons of the American Revolution, Connecticut</title><meta name="description" content="Articles about the American Revolution. Founded April 2, 1889, The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution's purpose is to keep alive the memory of men and women who fought or gave service or Independence in the American Revolutionary War." />
<meta name="keywords" content="sons of the american revolution, sons of the american revolution connecticut, connecticut sons of the american revolution,
connecticut sar, society of the sons of the american revolution, ctssar, ct sar, genealogy, reenacting, color guard connecticut, color guard sar, israel putnam, roger sherman, nathan hale,
benedict arnold, silas deane, thomas hooker, revolutionary road" />
<link href="../connecticutsar.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="../script.js"></script>
</head>

<body>

<div id="maincontainer">
<div id="top-header">
		<a href="../index.htm" title="The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution"><div id="logolink"></div></a>
    	<div id="ctssar-textcontainer">
   			<span class="firstline">THE CONNECTICUT SOCIETY OF THE</span><br />
    		<span class="secondline">SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION</span><br />
  			<span class="foundedby">Founded April 2, 1889, our purpose is to keep alive the memory of 
    	<br />men and women who fought or gave service for Independence in the American Revolutionary War.</span>
    	</div><!-- ctssar-textcontainer -->
      	
   	  <div class="signup" id="newsletter-container">Sign up for the CTSSAR newsletter!
        <div style="margin-top:3px;"><form name="ccoptin" action="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp" target="_blank" method="post" style="margin-bottom:3;">
        <input type="text" name="ea" size="20" value="" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size:12px;">
        <input type="submit" name="go" value="GO" class="submit"  style="font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size:12px;">
        <input type="hidden" name="m" value="1102570619553">
        <input type="hidden" name="p" value="oi">
        </form></div>
      </div>
   	  <!-- newsletter-container -->
  </div><!-- top-header -->

<div id="mainimages">

</div><!-- mainimages -->    
    
<div id="navs">
	<div class="navs" align="left">
	 
<ul class="menu" id="menu">
	<li><a href="../about/index.htm" class="about"></a>
		<ul>
			<li><a href="../about/accomplishments.htm" title="Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution Accoplishments">Accomplishments</a></li>
			<li><a href="../about/whatSARmeans.htm" title="Sons of the American Revolution">What SAR Means</a></li>
			<li><a href="../about/true-sons.htm" title="True Sons of the American Revolution">True Sons</a></li>
			<li><a href="../branches.htm" title="Branches of the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution">Branches</a></li>
            <li><a href="../about/FAQ.htm" title="FAQ about Sons of the American Revolution">FAQ</a></li>
            <li><a href="../about/rev-road.htm" title="Revolutionary Road, Sons of the American Revolution">Rev Road</a></li>
            <li><a href="../about/forms.htm" title="Forms to join the Sons of the American Revolution">Forms</a></li>
            <li><a href="../about/links.htm" title="Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution">Links</a></li>
            <li><a href="../about/membership.htm" title="Join Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut">Membership</a></li>
		</ul>
	</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.connecticutsar.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=ctssar" title="Order Sons of ther American Revolution Merchandise" class="onlinestore"></a></li>
  <li><a href="../color-guard/index.php" title="Color Guard CT" class="colorguard"></a></li>
  <li><a href="../patriots/index.htm" title="Patriots of the Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut" class="patriots"></a></li>
  <li><a href="../sites/index.htm" title="Historic Sites in Connecticut" class="historicsites"></a>
  		<ul>
  		            <li><a href="../sites/eh-schoolhouse.htm" title="Nathan Hale Museum East Haddam">Nathan Hale Schoolhouse <br />East Haddam</a></li>
                    <li><a href="../sites/le-waroffice.htm" title="Trumbull War Office">Trumbull War Office</a></li>
                    <li><a href="../sites/nl-schoolhouse.htm" title="Nathan Hale Museum New London">Nathan Hale Schoolhouse <br /> New London</a></li>
		</ul>
  
  
  </li>
  <li><a href="../gallery" title="Photos of the Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut" class="gallery"></a></li>
  <li><a href="index.htm" title="Articles about the American Revolution" class="articles"></a></li>
  <li><a href="../education/index.htm" title="Pledges, Flag Etiquette, Youth Contests with the Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut" class="education"></a>
    	<ul>
			<li><a title="Pledges of the Sons of the American Revolution" href="../education/pledges.htm">Pledges</a></li>
            <li><a title="Flag Etiquette" href="../education/flag-etiquette.htm">Flag Etiquette</a></li>
            <li><a title="Sons of the American Revolution Youth Contests and Scholarships" href="../education/youth-contests.htm">Youth Contests</a></li>
		</ul>
  </li>
  <li><a href="../contact.php" title="Contact the Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut" class="contact"></a></li>  
</ul>

<script type="text/javascript">
	var menu=new menu.dd("menu");
	menu.init("menu","menuhover");
</script>
     

    </div><!-- navs class -->
</div><!-- navs id -->    
    
<div id="page">

	<div id="leftcontainer">
		<ul>
        <li><a href="../blog" title="Read The Latest News from the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">Read Our</span> <br /><span class="leftnavsecondline">Latest News</span></a></li>
        <li><a href="../volunteer.php" title="Volunteer with the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">How To</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Volunteer</span></a></li>
          
        <li><a href="../happenings.php" title="View the Upcoming Happenings with the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">View Our</span><br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Calendar of Events</span></a></li>
        
        <li><a href="../contact.php" title="Contact the Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">You're Encouraged To</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Contact Us</span></a></li>
          
        <li><a href="../education/index.htm" title="Education Resources, Sons of the American Revolution" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">Resources For</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Education</span></a></li>
          
        <li><a href="../newsletter.htm" title="Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut Newsletter" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">Receive Our</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Newsletter</span></a></li>
          
        <li><a href="../about/links.htm" title="Sons of the American Revolution Online Resources" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">View Our</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Online Resources</span></a></li>
          
        <li><a href="../join.htm" title="How to the Join the Sons of the American Revolution" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">Find Out More</span> <br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Join The SAR</span></a></li>
          
          <li><a href="../support.htm" title="Support Our Sons of the American Revolution Connecticut Museums" class="dontunderline"><span class="leftnavfirstline">Support Our Museums</span><br />
          <span class="leftnavsecondline">Become A Patron</span></a></li>
          
        </ul>
    </div><!-- leftcontainer -->
    
    <div id="rightcontainer">
      <p class="maintext"><span class="scarlettext">The Scarlet Standard No. 12</span></p>
      <p class="maintext">“We fix on our Standards           and Drums the Colony arms, with the motto, <em>Qui Transtulit Sustinet</em>, round           it in letters of gold, which we construe thus: God, who transplanted us           hither, will support us.” - A letter regarding the Lexington Alarm           dated Wethersfield, CT., April 23, 1775.<br />
        <br />
        Record of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution 1775-1783, Adj.           Gen., Hartford, 1889.</p>
      <div align="center">
        <p class="maintext"><strong>Historical Series, Number Twelve, April 2007</strong><br />
          The Educational Outreach of the <a href="../branches/putnam.htm" class="dontunderline">General Israel Putnam           Branch No. 4</a><br />
        of the Connecticut Society of the <strong>Sons of the American Revolution</strong></p>
      </div>
      <hr size="1" width="350" />
      <h1 align="left">“SELF-GOVERNMENT”: </h1>
      <h3 align="left"> The Common Ground of  Meetinghouse &amp; Militia</h3>
      <br />
      <span class="maintext">In  a short poem titled “The Divine Source of Liberty”, Samuel Adams  reveals what “shall be a nations true test: To acknowledge the divine  Source of Liberty”.   Self-government in New England had originated and  expanded within the context of that acknowledgement, but in 1765,  passage of the Stamp Act by the British Parliament would present a  serious threat to colonial self-government under the Royal Charters.     The Stamp Act  motivated the Lawyer John Adams to write “A Dissertation  on the Canon and Feudal Law”, exposing the confederacy of the English  Canon and Feudal Law that had forced the Puritans to leave England and  settle New England.   John Adams maintained that “It was this great  struggle that peopled America.  It was not religion alone, as is  commonly supposed; but it was a love of universal liberty, and a  hatred, a dread, a horror, of the infernal confederacy before  described, that projected, conducted, and accomplished the settlement  of America.  It was a resolution formed by a sensible people,—I mean  the Puritans,—almost in despair”.   ”They knew that no such unworthy  dependencies took place in the ancient seats of liberty, the republics  of Greece and Rome; and they thought all such slavish subordinations  were equally inconsistent with the constitution of human nature and  that religious liberty with which Jesus had made them free.”   Later,  after Lexington and Concord, a member of the Danver’s Militia replied  to John Adams: “What we meant in going for those red-coats, was this:  we had always governed ourselves and we always meant to.  They didn’t  mean we should”.   In his “Democracy in America”, Alexis de Tocqueville  would later concur: “The general principles which are the groundwork of  modern constitutions—principles which, in the seventeenth century, were  imperfectly known in Europe, and not completely triumphant even in  Great Britain—were all recognized and established by the laws of New  England”.  They “enacted laws, as if their allegiance was due only to  God.”  “In the laws of Connecticut and New England we find the germ and  gradual development of the township independence, which is the life and  mainspring of American liberty at the present day.”  He goes on to note  “that the social condition and the constitution of the Americans are  democratic, but they have not had a democratic revolution.  They  arrived upon the soil they occupy in nearly the condition in which we  see them at the present day; and this is of considerable importance.”    Self-government had been planted with the early settlement of New  England where the American Revolution could be expected to start around  Boston, Massachusetts, named to honor the Reverend John Cotton of St.  Botolph’s Church in Boston, Lincolnshire, England.   Remember the  earlier revolution had also started around Boston on the morning of  April 18, 1689 when the militia began to pour in from the surrounding  towns to arrest Governor Andros and restore self-government.      Concerning  the plantation of New England, John Cotton had preached <strong>“What he hath  planted he will maintain” </strong>as  Winthrop’s Fleet departed for New England with the Charter of the  Massachusetts Bay Company.   The Historian John Fiske describes the  transplanting to Connecticut:  In Massachusetts, “When the Board of  Assistants undertook to secure for themselves permanency of tenure,  together with the power of choosing the governor and making the laws,  these three towns (Dorchester, Watertown and the New Town) sent  deputies to Boston to inspect the charter and see if it authorized any  such stretch of power.”  “Cotton declared that democracy was no fit  government either for church or for commonwealth, and the majority of  the ministers agreed with him.  Chief among those who did not was the  learned and eloquent Thomas Hooker, pastor of the church at the New  Town.”  In “June, 1636, the New Town congregation, a hundred or more in  number, led by their sturdy pastor, and bringing with them 160 head of  cattle, made the pilgrimage to the Connecticut valley.  Women and  children took part in this pleasant summer journey; Mrs. Hooker, the  pastor’s wife, being too ill to walk, was carried on a litter.”   “Hooker’s pilgrims were soon followed by the Dorchester and Watertown  congregations, and by the next May 800 people were living in Windsor,  Hartford and Wethersfield.  As we read of these movements, not of  individuals, but of organic communities, united in allegiance to a  church and its pastor, and fervid with the instinct of self-government,  we seem to see Greek history renewed, but with centuries of added  political training.”  In Connecticut, “At the opening sessions of the  General Court, May 31, 1638, Mr. Hooker preached a sermon of wonderful  power, in which he maintained that “the foundation of authority is laid  in the free consent of the people,” “that the choice of public  magistrates belongs unto the people by God’s own allowance,” and “they  that have power to appoint officers and magistrates have the right also  to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto which  they call them.”   “On the 14th of January 1639, all the freemen of the  three towns assembled at Hartford and adopted a written constitution in  which the hand of the great preacher is clearly discernible.  It is  worthy of note that this document contains none of the conventional  references to a “dread sovereign” or a “gracious king,” nor the  slightest allusion to the British or any other government outside of  Connecticut itself, nor does it prescribe any condition of  church-membership for the right of suffrage.  It was the first written  constitution known to history, that created a government, and it marked  the beginnings of American democracy, of which Thomas Hooker deserves  more than any other man to be called the father.“  “This document,  known as the “Fundamental Orders of Connecticut” created the government  under which the people of Connecticut lived for nearly two centuries  before they deemed it necessary to amend it.  The charter granted to  Connecticut by Charles II in 1662 was simply a royal recognition of the  government actually in operation since the adoption of the Fundamental  Orders.”   Connecticut’s motto “Qui Transtulit Sustinet” - <strong>“He who transplanted still sustains”</strong>,  extends the earlier “planting” theme of John Cotton.   The meaning of  CT’s motto is best expressed in the letter quoted above under The  Scarlet Standard heading.   With spiritual ties to the 80th Psalm, this  was familiar verse in the colonies and its recurring theme would again  appear as a sermon titled <strong>“The American Vine” </strong>preached  at Christ Church in Philadelphia to the adjourned Continental Congress  assembling there on the 20th of July 1775.   The <strong><em>Planting </em></strong>and <strong><em>Transplanting</em></strong> had become <strong><em>“The American Vine”. </em></strong>  Thomas  Hooker’s Democratic Revelation of May 31, 1638 is ripe fruit in 1775.    Self-government was dependent on the individual and the collective  ability to govern the self, based on Right reason, not according to  humours or wandering thoughts, for they had witnessed God’s smiles and  frowns.   The impact of a Biblical Commonwealth such as Connecticut was  grudgingly noted by the Episcopal Clergyman Samuel Peters in his  “History of Connecticut”, where he attempts to explain “the causes of  the American Revolution” from his perspective of both sides of the  Atlantic.   Samuel Peters was a Tory who had unsuccessfully attempted  to implant the Anglican Church, which strongly supported the King, into  “Congregational Connecticut”.   After a confrontation with the  Connecticut Sons of Liberty, he was forced to retreat to the safety of  England.   While he blames republicanism as the cause leading to the  separation, he comprehended not its Providential Direction.   He  observed that ”the British government, in the last century, did not  expect New-England to remain under their authority; nor did the  New-Englanders consider themselves as subjects, but allies, of Great  Britain...republican charters were granted, and privileges and promises  given them far beyond what an Englishman in England is entitled to.    The emigrants were empowered to make laws, in church and state,  agreeable to their own will and pleasure, without the King’s  approbation.”   “They never have prayed for any earthly king by name.”   “They always called themselves republicans and enemies to Kingly  government...They never have admitted one law of England to be in force  among them, till passed by their assemblies...They hold Jesus to be  their only King, whom if they love and obey, they will not submit,  because they have not submitted to the laws of the King of England”.</span><br />
      <span class="maintext">  <br />
      The New England Towns were noted for their Meetinghouse where town  meetings and church services were held and for the Green or Common  ground where cows grazed, Liberty poles were raised by the Sons of  Liberty, and the local Militia (Trained Bands) would muster and  train.   Training days usually opened with roll call and prayer  followed by the manual of arms, drill, inspection and maneuvers, often  ending with refreshments and social activities.   In time of danger,  the Militiamen would “go to meeting armed on Lord’s day”.   The Militia  was recognized as <strong><em>“The Body of the People” </em></strong>a  term found in John Locke’s “Two Treatises on Government” (II, 241-3).    Service in the Militia was NOT voluntary as the Militia Laws in New  England required males between 16 and 60 years of age to serve,  mustering as often as once a week in early 1775.   The local Militiaman  was required to provide his own firearm, Powder, ball, a secondary  weapon such as a knlfe or tomahawk and the necessities for a limited  stay in the field.   Local Militia Companies elected their own  Officers.   When local CT Militia Companies were organized into <strong><em>Thirteen</em></strong> State Regiments in 1739, Regimental Officers would be appointed by the  General Assembly, but local companies continued to elect their  officers.   During the eighteenth century colonial wars, militiamen  were recruited to serve as Provincial troops, such as Putnam’s  Connecticut Rangers, in support of British operations against France  and Spain.   During the War of Jenkin’s Ear (1739-42), 3,500 colonials  were recruited as Provincials for the disasterous attack on the Fort at  Cartagena (coast of Columbia in South America) in 1740, with only 600  Americans surviving to return home.   Major General Phineas Lyman, who  was allied with the Trumbulls, would command the CT Regiments during  the French and Indian War in upper New York (Fort Lyman); Canada; and  at the Siege and capture of Havana, Cuba in 1762.   Many of those who  fought under Lyman at Havana would form the “Company of Military  Adventurers” after the war ended in 1763 to persue a share in prize  money and land grants for participation in the fall of Havana.   Later  meetings at Major John Durkee’s Tavern in Norwich would forward a  strong comradeship of military experience into the Connecticut Sons of  Liberty and the militia companies responding to the “Lexington Alarm in  1775”.   Since the early settlement, when Thomas Hooker’s Assistant,  Samuel Stone was Chaplain to Captain John Mason’s troops, Army  Chaplains had connected the Meetinghouse to Militia Regiments.   In  like manner in 1755, the Rev. Solomon Williams, Pastor at Lebanon for  fifty-three years and an intimate friend of Governor Jonathan Trumbull,  preached on “The Duty of Christian Soldiers, when called to War, to  Undertake It In The Name Of God”.</span>
  <br />
      
      <div align="center"><img src="../images/scarlet_12_1.png" alt="Statue" />                <img src="http://www.connecticutsar.org/articles/images/scarlett_12_statue.jpg" alt="Statue" /></div>
<p class="maintext">The  Charter of Connecticut provided “That itt shall and may bee lawfull to  and for the chiefe Commanders, Governours and Officers of the said  company for the tyme being whoe shall bee resident in the parts of New  England hereafter menconed, and others inhabitating there by their  leave, admittance, appointment or direccon, from tyme to tyme and att  all tymes hereafter, for their speciall defence and safety, to  Assemble, Martiall, Array, and putt in Warlike posture the Inhabitants  of the said Colony...”   Jonathan Trumbull enjoyed the unique status of  an elected Governor serving under a form of Charter Government, before,  during and following the Revolutionary War (1769-84).   As Governor, he  commanded the Connecticut Militia as “Captain-General and  Commander-in-Chief”.   His statue stands in the U.S. Capitol Building  in Washington, D.C. attesting to his significance as “Soldier,  statesman and minister”.   He chose the date the war would start at  Lexington and Concord, Proclaimed Connecticut a Republic June 18, 1776  and was a key figure in the Sons of Liberty.   Trained for the Ministry  at Harvard and licensed to Preach the Gospel, he Preached in several  churches, then was offered the Pulpit in Colchester.   Though never  Ordained or settled in a Church as its Minister, his Proclamations,  correspondence and statesmanship attest to his Ministry to the people  of Connecticut..   A statue of him also stands on the East facade of  Connecticut’s State Capitol Building at Hartford, with Thomas Hooker,  Roger Sherman and John Davenport.   His Son, John Trumbull, an  Aide-De-Camp to Gen. Washington (1776-77) is known as the “Painter of  the Revolution” and four of his large paintings of the revolutionary  era are found in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building with some  displayed at  Yale University’s Art Gallery and the Wadsworth Athaneum  in Hartford.   Two statues were allowed from each State and CT  Multi-Signer Roger Sherman also stands in the U.S. Capitol Building.    He is remembered as a member of the committee to draft the Declaration  of Independence and  for the “Connecticut Compromise” proposal for U.S.  Congress representation.   He  seconded James Madison’s motion for  prayer  during the Constitutional Convention on June 28, 1787 following  the tradition of the 1774 Convention in Carpenter’s Hall,  Philadelphia.   Benjamin Franklin  had noted “a melancholy proof of the  imperfection of the Human Understanding” quoting Psalm 127:1; “except  the Lord Build the House, they labour in vain that build it”.    Congressional Prayers  were instituted on July 4, 1787.   A consequence  of this delay was evident June 29th, when concern was expressed that  the smaller States would be losing some liberty, to which Alexander  Hamilton replied <strong><em>“The truth is it is a  contest for power, not for liberty”. </em></strong>  In  1774, Roger Sherman was asked by Patrick Henry “why the people of  Connecticut were more zealous in the cause of liberty than the people  of other States”.   Sherman replied “because we have more to lose than  any of them.”   And that of course was “Our beloved charter”, known to  Governor Jonathan Trumbull as “the happy constitution under which we  have so long subsisted as a corporation”. </p>
<p class="maintext">Benjamin  Franklin was living in Philadelphia in 1747 when he proposed that a  Pennsylvania Militia of volunteers, who elected their own officers, be  formed.   The hostilities of King George’s War with France and the War  of Jenkin’s Ear with Spain had made Franklin aware of the threat to  Philadelphia from it’s western frontier and also from French and  Spanish privateers, who were raiding towns on the Delaware River.   His  pleas were ignored by the Royal Governor and a pacifist Assembly, which  made it necessary for him to rely on his pamphleteering skills.   The  response to his Freedom of the Press was awesome with about 10,000 men  volunteering in Pennsylvania for the new independent “Militia  Association”, organizing into over one hundred militia companies with  artillery batteries soon set up on the Delaware River.   King George’s  War ended the following year and the Independent “Militia Association”  ended.   Franklin understood power, politics and the need for a militia  commenting:  “<em>Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting  on what to have for lunch.  Liberty is a well-armed  lamb contesting the vote”</em>.    After British General Braddock was killed in 1755 and his 1600 man  force routed in the Pennsylvania wilderness during the French and  Indian War, the Pennsylvania Militia was revived by Benjamin Franklin  and he was elected Colonel of the Philadelphia Regiment.  </p>
<div align="center"><img src="../images/scarlet_12_3.png" alt="Political Cartoon of the Colonies" /> <br />
</div>
<p class="maintext">In  1754, Franklin had proposed his Albany Plan of Union “for the common  defense of the colonies, with a grand council chosen by the colonies,  and a governor general appointed by the Crown.   Franklin’s cartoon (at  right) was published in his “Pennsylvania Gazette” to promote a union  of the American Colonies.   Note that New England is pictured as the  symbolic head in his “Don’t tread on me” illustration.   117 years  earlier in 1637, Connecticut had proposed a union of the New England  Colonies, adopted in 1643 as the New England Confederation “to advance  the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the  Gospel, in purity with peace”.   At the Convention held at Albany, NY  on July 4, 1754, Connecticut’s “delegates alone of all the colonies had  refused to enter into a union” because “They feared that it might “be  employed to the subversion of their liberties”.  Connecticut did not  have a Royal Governor appointed by the Crown and “had lived under a  charter and form of government that made her substantially a free and  independent colony for more than a hundred years”.   The Stamp Act  Congress was held in New York City October 7-25,1765 in opposition to  the Stamp Act and was attended by Delegates from nine colonies  including Connecticut.   The First Continental Congress met in  Philadelphia from September 5th to October 26, 1774 to determine the  best course “for the recovery and establishment of just rights and  liberties, civil and religious, and the restoration of union and  harmony between Great Britain and the colonies”.   Relations with Great  Britain continued to worsen and in January 1776, a letter from England  demanded total submission to the King, ending all attempts at  reconciliation.   The Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia  on May 10, 1775 and in June of 1776 began to draft “Articles of  Confederation” for “The United States of America” which were adopted  November 15,1777 and presented to the States for ratification.    Connecticut would continue in it’s system of Charter Government  established by the Fundamental Orders in 1639, but after it’s  Declaration Of Independence, the need for colonial union became  necessary.   Each Connecticut Town continued as a little republic  within the State administering its affairs through the Town Meeting:   “Att a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Windham Legally Warned  and held In Windham January 6th In The Year of our Lord Christ 1778.   Jedediah Elderkim Esqr Moderator, Samuel Gray Town Clerk.  This Town  having heard and duly Considered The Articles of Confederation agreed  upon by the Honorable Continental Congress, do Acceed to the same in  every article and clause Thereof...And that the Representatives of this  Town be and they are hereby instructed to acceed to the same in the  General Assembly of this State - Passed in the affirmative.”   Windham  would hold many Town Meetings during the Revolutionary War appointing  members of their Committees of Safety, Correspondence, Inspection and  Relief for Soldier’s families; raising supplies and taxes in support of  the troops.   The “Articles of Confederation” were ratified by the  States and became effective, March 1, 1781.   In New England, the  American Revolution was certainly about self-government.</p>
<p class="maintext">The  Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773 resulted in the British closing  of the Port of Boston on June 1, 1774.   In support of Boston, the  Virginia Burgesses adopted a resolution, proposed by Henry, Jefferson  and Lee, for a day of fasting and prayer for the day the Boston Port  Bill went into effect.   Accordingly on June 1, 1774, George Washington  noted in his diary, “Went to church and fasted all day”.   George  Washington was well aware of the line from Joseph Addison’s “Cato”:   <strong>“<em>The  Post of honor is a private station”.</em></strong>     In Connecticut, The Town of Windham responded by driving a “small  flock” of two hundred and fifty-eight sheep for the relief of Boston,  as did many other towns.   “Putnam himself took down Brooklyn’s gift of  one hundred and twenty-five fine sheep.”   “Connecticut equipped four  new regiments in the Autumn of 1774.   Each town was ordered to provide  double its usual stock of powder, balls and flint.   Trainings twice a  month were required of each military company.   The militia  organization of our colony was then very efficient; military spirit  high.”   “A brigade training in Plainfield, 1773, is especially  memorable for inciting the first spark of military enthusiasm in a  young Quaker from Rhode Island, Nathaniel Greene, destined to win a  high name among revolutionary commanders.”   “A small book widely  circulated in Connecticut during this winter of 1774-75, and especially  endorsed by Windham County Clergy,...was entitled — “English Liberties,  or the Freeborn subjects Inheritance, containing Magna Charta, Habeas  Corpus Act, a Declaration of the Liberties of the Subject, the Petition  of Right, and other kindred documents,” reprinted from the fifth  English edition, and showing, saith the preface, “the laws and rights  that from age to age have been delivered down to us from our renowned  forefathers, and which they so dearly bought and vindicated to  themselves at the expense of so much blood and treasure.”</p>
<p><span class="maintext">Patrick  Henry gained prominence in Virginia during the early 1760’s after  obtaining a license to practice law, and proceeded to develop his  talents as a orator in the “Parson’s Cause” and the successful defense  of  three imprisoned itinerant Baptist Ministers who, Henry would  question the Judge, were “charged with —with—with what?  Preaching the  gospel of the Son of God?  Great God!”   When the Virginia Assembly  passed Patrick Henry’s Resolves in 1765 opposing the Stamp Act, the  Royal Governor of Virginia remarked “The Leaven of the North fermented  the Minds of the Virginians”.   Ten years later, Patrick Henry would be  elected Captain of 150 volunteers responding when the Royal Governor  removed fifteen barrels of gunpowder from the powder magazine at  Williamsburg.   In March of 1775, as war with Great Britain approached,  Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech to the 2nd Virginia  Convention, would in a spectacular manner, bring attention to the need  for a Virginia militia.   He believed that “a well-regulated militia,  composed of gentlemen and yeomen, is the natural strength and only  security of a free government; that such a militia in this colony would  forever render it unnecessary for the mother country to keep among us  for the purpose of our defense any standing army of mercenary forces,  always subversive of the quiet and dangerous to the liberties of the  people, and would obviate the pretext of taxing us for their  support.”    His speech would make many valid points  “it is natural to  man to indulge in the illusions of Hope.  We are apt to shut our eyes  against a painful truth, and listen to the song of the siren till she  transforms us into beasts.  Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a  great and arduous struggle for liberty?  Are we disposed to be of the  number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not,  the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?”...”I have  but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of  experience.  I know of no way of judging the future but by the  past.”...”Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace.”    Interestingly, a Sermon preached many times by George Whitfield during  the “Great Awakening” titled “The Method of Grace”, had for its theme,  “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” (Jer 6:14; Matt 10:34).   The  connection between Henry and Whitfield was the “Great Awakening”  beginning in the 1730’s and leaving a deep and lasting effect on  drop-dead spiritual reasoning in the Colonies (i.e. men must be “born  again” to “see the Kingdom of heaven”).    George Whitfield, was  ordained in the Anglican Church in England, but his non-conformity  would prevent him from preaching in the Anglican Churches in England  and America, forcing him to become an itinerant preacher, addressing  large gatherings in open fields.   The Presbyterian Scotch-Irish had  re-settled from Ireland to the middle colonies in the early 1700’s, and  George Whitfied arrived in 1738.   Preaching to large crowds on seven  trips to the colonies, he contacted Patrick Henry’s uncle in 1745, the  Reverend Patrick Henry, for permission to preach at St. Pauls Anglican  Church in Hanover County, threatening to preach in the churchyard, if  not in the church.   Whitfield preached twice to the large crowd that  gathered there, first in the church, then in the churchyard.   Two  years later, preferring to attend a “New Light” church rather than her  brother’s, Sarah Henry would take her young son Patrick to hear the  newly licensed Presbyterian, the Reverend Samuel  Davies.   On the  trips home, Sarah would quiz Patrick on his grasp of the sermon; he  also grasped the delivery, and became “the Trumpet of the American  Revolution”.   In Philadelphia, both Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin  would greatly benefit from their relationship.   The spiritual fields  of New England were well awakened by Jonathan Edwards when Whitfield  preached to large gatherings reported at 15,000 on Boston Common.    Among his friends, Col. William Pepperell was chosen to command the  1745 expedition against Fortress Louisburgh on Cape Breton, and Mr.  Sherburne, at whose house Whitfield often stayed, was to be  Commissary.    When asked to favor the expedition with a motto for  their flag, Whitfield offered “”Fear nothing, while Christ is leader”  and preached to the colonial force which included 500 men and the naval  sloop “Defence” from Connecticut.   The New Englanders unaided victory  at Louisbourg stunned Europe and gave the colonials a great boost of  confidence, for which George Whitfield would preach the Thanksgiving  Sermon.   Whitfield remained active until his death on September  30,1770 at Newburyport, Massachusetts in the house of his friend, the  Reverend Jonathan Parsons, and lies buried in front of his pulpit.    The patriot preacher Stephen Johnson, who amplified Patrick Henry’s  opposition to the Stamp Act, had replaced the Reverend Jonathan Parsons  at Lyme, CT, who had moved to the Presbyterian Church at Newburyport.    Samuel Holden Parsons, the son of Reverend Jonathan Parsons, remained  in Connecticut and became Colonel of the Sixth Connecticut Regiment,  posted at Roxbury in June 1775 with the Rev. Stephen Johnson as his  Chaplain.   Parsons later became Major-General.<br />
  </span><br />
</p>
<div align="center"> <img src="../images/scarlet_12_4.png" alt="Painting" /><br />
</div>
<br />
<div align="center"> <img src="../images/scarlet_12_5.png" alt="Painting" /><br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="tabletext"> <br />
  The first frescoes on the walls of the U.S. Capitol Building are  representative of the Militia tradition: Lt.-Col. Israel Putnam leaving  his plow to respond to the Lexington Alarm&quot;; and the other, The fifth  century B.C. Roman Patriot Cincinnatus leaving his plow to defend Rome.</div>
<p class="maintext">In  ancient Israel, The males were numbered, with some exemptions, “From  twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in  Israel”.   In Athens, from about 500 B.C., a form of Militia or citizen  army was linked to their early form of democratic government.  From age  18 to 20, military training was required and afterwards the citizen was  responsible for maintaining his own armaments (helmet, shield, sword  and spear) ready to respond to a call to arms until age 60.  In the  fifth century B.C., Cincinnatus would twice leave his farm to defend  Rome, but in 9 A.D., three Roman Legions of  60,000 men were  annihilated in the forests of Northern Germany by a less formal ancient  Germanic militia.   The wars in the Lowlands of Europe split the  Netherlands into Holland and Belgium and would provide the military  training ground for many future leaders of Puritan Militia (for  example, Myles Standish and John Underhill in Massachusetts and John  Mason and Lyon Gardiner in Connecticut).   Among those who remained in  England, Sir Arthur Haselrig, raised a troop of horse under his famous  “Anchored in Heaven” Banner in the Parliamentary Army and also served  as commercial agent for Connecticut and Massachusetts in London.   In  1775, The Eleventh Regiment of CT Militia was comprised of the Town  Militia Companies of Woodstock, Pomfret and Killingly.   Lt. Col.  Israel Putnam, from Pomfret, was with the Eleventh Regiment prior to  promotion to Colonel of the Third Regiment at the time of the  “Lexington Alarm”.   Men from the Eleventh Regiment responded to the  “Lexington Alarm” and some participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill.    In 1776, they participated in the Battle of Long Island, after more  than 30,000 British troops had landed.   They were the only Connecticut  Militia Regiment to cross the Hudson River with George Washington’s  Army into New Jersey.   An interesting account of the action there with  a reference to Col. Williams, who was in command of the Eleventh, is  found in the Diary of the Chaplain to Col. John Durkee’s 20th  Continental Regiment, the Rev, Benjamin Boardman of Middle Haddam,  CT.   The extract can be found in “The Chaplains and Clergy of the  American Revolution” by Joel T. Headlley.   In 1775, Yale College had  more students enrolled than any American college and a student militia  was trained with a stand of 100 muskets.   The Lexington Alarm “reached  New Haven on Friday Night-and on Lordsday Morning the Company of Cadets  marched from New Haven via Hartford for Boston”.   On April 19, 1776,  Jonas Clark, the Pastor at Lexington, preached a Sermon reviewing the  events and describing the situation where the shedding of innocent  blood occurred the previous year at Lexington.   Two days after the  Battle of Bunker Hill, Gen. Thomas Gage, now the British Military  Governor, issues a Proclamation demanding the inhabitants to turn in  their Fire-Arms.   The traditional American viewpoint was that of  George Washington who would bequeath swords to each of his five  nephews, directing them “not to un-sheath them...except it be for self  defence, or in defence of their Country and its rights...and in the  latter case, to...prefer falling with them in their hands, to the  relinquishment thereof”. </p>
<p class="maintext">In June of 1775, the Second  Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia when John Adams  proposed George Washington to lead the Colonial Militias that had  assembled to besiege Boston.   George Washington was unanimously  appointed “to command all the continental forces” and took command of  the American Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, issuing General Orders  on July 4, 1775:  “The Hon: Artemus Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler,  and Israel Putnam Esquires are appointed Major Generals of the American  Army, and due obedience is to be paid them as such...It is required and  expected that exact discipline be observed, and due subordination  prevail thro’ the whole Army, as a Failure in these most essential  points must necessarily produce extreme Hazard, Disorder and Confusion;  and end in shameful disappointment and disgrace.   The General most  earnestly requires, and expects, a due observance of those articles of  war, established for the Government of the army, which forbid profane  cursing, swearing and drunkeness; And in like manner requires and  expects, of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a  punctual attendance on divine Service, to implore the blessings of  heaven upon the means used for our safety and defence.”   The Army was  formed into three Grand Divisions, subdivided into two Brigades each.    General Orders issued from Head Quarters at Cambridge on July 23,  1775:  “As the Continental Army have unfortunately no Uniforms, and  consequently many inconveniences must arise, from not being able always  to ditinguish the Commissioned Officers, from the non Commissioned, and  the non Commissioned from the private; it is desired that some Badges  of Distinction may be immediately provided, for instance, the Field  Officers may have red or pink colour’d Cockades in their Hatts: the  Captains yellow or buff: and the Subalterns green.   They are to  furnish themselves accordingly.   The Serjeants may be distinguished by  an Epaulette, or stripe of red Cloth, sewed upon the right shoulder;  the Corporals by one of green.”   On July 18, 1775 George Washington  wrote to Governor Jonathan Trumbull:  Sir: Allow me to return you my  sincere thanks for the kind wishes and favorable Sentiments express’d  in yours of the 13th Instant.   As the Cause of our common Country,  calls us both to an active and dangerous Duty, I trust that Divine  Providence, which wisely orders the affairs of Men, will enable us to  discharge it with Fidelty and Success.   The uncorrupted Choice of a  brave and free People, has raised you to deserved Eminence; that the  Blessings of Health and the still greater Blessing of long continuing  to Govern such a People may be yours, is the Sincere Wish, of Sir  etc.”   Again Writing to Trumbull August 4, 1775:  “My last Letter from  the Honble. Continental Congress, recommends my procuring from the  Colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut, a quantity of Tow Cloth, for  the purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts for the Men, many of  whom are destitute of cloathing.   A Pattern is herewith sent you;...It  is design’d as a Species of Uniform, both cheap and convenient...I am  now, Sir, in strict Confidence, to acquaint you that our Necessities,  in the Article of Powder and Lead, are so great, as to require an  Immediate supply.”</p>
<div align="center"><img src="../images/scarlet_12_6.png" alt="Monument with the American Flag" /></div>
<p class="maintext">John  Adams made it clear that “American democracy” was founded on a long  tradition of reason and revelation.   Any “Founding Father” who quoted  scripture, as an overwhelming majority did, obviously acknowledged  revelation.   George Washington attended Church with Gov, Jonathan  Trumbull through the whole day of Sunday May 20, 1781 at  Wethersfield.   Self-government had been successful in New England,  because as Alexis DeTocqueville had written:  <strong><em>“Despotism may govern without faith,  but Liberty  cannot”</em></strong>,  and concerning faith, Augustine had written “Faith is to believe, on  the word of God, what we do not see, and its reward is to see and enjoy  what we believe”.   On April 19, 1783,  “Eight years to the day from  the commencement of hostilities at Lexington”, George Washington the  Commander in Chief ordered “the cessation of Hostilities between the  United States and the King of Great Britain to be publickly  proclaimed”.   George Washington and Samuel Adams recognized the  importance of acknowledging The divine Source of Liberty, as did  Francis Scott Key, in the final stanza of our National Anthem, <strong><em>“The Star  Spangled Banner</em></strong>”,written in 1814:<br />
  <br />
  O  thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,   Between their lov’d home,  and the war’s desolation, Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n  rescued land,   Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a  nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,   And this be  our motto - <strong><em>“In God is our Trust”</em></strong>; And the  star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”</p>
    </div>
<div id="endclear"></div><!-- end clear -->

</div><!-- page -->
<div id="footer-container">

<div id="footer-left">&copy; 1996 - 2010 <a href="http://www.connecticutsar.org" title="CTSSAR">Connecticut 

(CT) Sons of the American Revolution</a> - All Rights Reserved.<br />
    <a href="http://www.paysonllc.com/design.htm" title="Web Design Connecticut (CT)" target="_blank">Web Design 

CT</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.paysonllc.com/hosting.htm" title="Web Hosting Connecticut (CT)" target="_blank">Web 

Hosting CT</a> by <a href="http://www.whoistheoldguy.com" title="Payson Internet Solutions" 

target="_blank">WhoIsTheOldGuy.com</a></div>
    
    <div id="footer-right"><a href="../sitemap.htm" title="CT Society of the Sons of the American Revolution 

Sitemap">Sitemap</a> | <a href="../contact.php" title="Contact CT Society of the Sons of the American 

Revolution">Contact</a></div>
  </div><!--footer-container --></div><!-- maincontainer --><script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-8906460-1");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script></body>
</html>
