“The first duty of government is to protect itself.”
– Judge John Pitman, Rhode Island 1842 during the Dorr Rebellion
When the status quo is challenged, the establishment
will fight back tooth and nail. The Tea
Party can testify to that. They have
been targeted by some of the most powerful agencies in Washington D.C., along
with both political parties. Hell, the
IRS just reported more of their agents have the Lois Lerner syndrome. Up to 20 agents have had computer crashes. Go figure!
We’ve all heard the adage, history repeats
itself. Well, in 1841 – 1842, a popular
uprising happened in Rhode Island. A
majority of that state’s citizens were disenfranchised. Not because they couldn’t produce an ID, or
weren’t allowed same day voting. They were
denied the right to vote because they didn’t own a prerequisite amount of
property. This uprising is known as the
Dorr Rebellion.
The elites of both parties, Whig and Democrats,
ignored their fellow citizens’ demands, until the suffragist formed their own
constitution and had their own elections.
They were going to replace the powers that be with a Peoples
Constitution. As you can expect, this
rebellion was about to be squashed.
The state assembly passed legislation threatening
anyone who accepted office under the People’s Constitution would be arrested
and tried for treason. At the same time,
they authorized the governor to assemble the militia with an expenditure of
$102,000 to suppress the suffragist.
That was more than the state’s annual budget.
Here is a quote from America’s First Great
Depression by Alasdair Roberts:
The state now had two rival governments. On May 3, Dorr led a procession of two
thousand people, escorted by two military companies, past the barricaded
statehouse to an unused Providence foundry, where he convened the People’s
Assembly. It repealed the Algerine Law,
selected a supreme court, demanded the surrender of public property to the
People’s officers, and passed resolutions notifying President Tyler, Congress,
and other states that it was now the legitimate authority in Rhode Island. The next day, Governor King and the state
assembly convened in Newport. It
declared the existence of an insurrection, ordered the arrest of rebel leaders,
and sent commissioners to Washington to demand assistance from the federal
government. Meanwhile, it continued
military preparations. Five hundred artillery
pieces and over two thousands muskets were collected in the arsenal at
Providence. Friendly militia companies
were drilled and arms were distributed to volunteers.
The rebellion was suppressed and
the leaders were arrested and convicted.
But something good did come out of the Dorr Rebellion. Suffragists got what they demanded. That is something the Tea Party can hang
their hat on.
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