The American heritage is one of pride in independence, both as a country and as individuals. We can point to one chapter after another in our history and experience Freedom! Independence! Hurrah!

Yet would Americans today really rebel? Are we still filled with that spirit of freedom and independence?

Let’s consider why our colonial forefathers cut ties and took up arms against Great Britain, one of the greatest world powers at the time.

Thomas Jefferson lists many reasons in the Declaration of Independence:

• He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
• He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
• He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
• He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
• He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
• He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
• He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
• He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
• He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
• He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
• He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
• For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
• For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
• For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
• For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
• For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
• For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
• For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
• For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
• For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
• He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
• He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
• He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
• He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

Swarms of government agents? Corrupted courts? Excessive taxes? Rogue federal agencies like the DOJ, FBI and CIA? All these injustices are happening today.

Jefferson in his wisdom recognized that “mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

And so here we are today. We suffer the debasing of our currency, the flooding of our country with foreigners, excessive taxes, rogue government agencies, corrupted justice, and many other evils that destroy the public good and eat at our livelihoods and freedoms.

More to the point, let us look at what we suffered during COVID and sincerely reflect on our bravery and what it did for American independence.

We were told a horrific virus was spreading around the globe. Nothing like it had been seen since the Spanish Influenza roughly 100 years prior. We watched videos from China of people simply collapsing in public, hospitals overflowing, and locked down, vacant cities. No doubt, it was terrifying and played upon every apocalyptic zombie movie any of us ever watched.

Iran saw much of its leadership die from the disease and then Italy was on lockdown. From there, the lockdowns and fear spread globally until America found itself in the midst of something none living had ever experienced.

People were ordered to stay home, our businesses were shuttered, churches sealed up, schools went to “remote learning,” and only essential services were available. Some states, like Minnesota, even rolled out “snitch lines” for residents to inform on neighbors, friends and family who weren’t obeying the decrees. The fear generated by the government and media was overwhelming.

It all seemed reasonable … at first. Indeed, it was under President Trump that it all took place to “slow the spread.” But after several months, a few brave souls started asking questions via social media and the internet.

Then the censorship really began. People found themselves blocked, shadow-banned, or simply erased online. Their voices utterly silenced.

Next came the COVID vaccine. The pressure for everyone to take it was absolutely incredible. Many were threatened with their livelihoods if they didn’t take it, family and friends turned on each other, and in many areas of the country, the unvaccinated were prevented from engaging in commerce or society in general. The authorities even aggressively pushed people to have their children vaccinated.

But three things stood out in all of it.

First, where were all the bodies? COVID was supposed to be a plague upon us, governments were buying incinerators and storage units in expectation that a significant portion of the population would succumb to the virus. But that didn’t happen. Instead, we watched Tik Tok videos of nurses dancing in largely empty hospitals while relatives were prevented from being with those few who did need hospitalization. Again, those who pointed this fact out were quickly silenced and the drumbeat of fear continued.

Second, the vaccine was apparently brand-new technology that altered your body’s genetic make-up. Completely untested and simply rolled out to the backdrop of a reality that didn’t match the propaganda. Everyone was threatened if they didn’t take it. Indeed, many called for the unvaccinated to be thrown in camps or even eliminated.

Third, we quickly saw that the vaccine didn’t work. Individuals who were vaccinated early still got COVID. What was the point?

Nonetheless, it’s estimated that 81% of Americans were vaccinated with at least one dose and 70% received two doses of the experimental MRNA shot.

As the narrative broke down, government released its grip, the media tempered its aggressive marketing of fear, and freedom was slowly restored.

The lesson is one that we shouldn’t forget.

Don’t think fear wasn’t palatable in the Colonies when our forefathers chose to rebel. We have a rosy view of the past, knowing how they were victorious. But that was by no means guaranteed at the time.

Only about 35-40% of the Colonials were on the side of the rebellion. Meanwhile, another third were on the side of the Crown and fought as Loyalists. Recall the fear you felt during COVID and now put yourself in the shoes of the Patriots as you saw the Redcoats march through your town.

Would you join the rebellion? Would you really fight?

Rebellion is serious business. Once you take that step, there is no turning back. There is no mercy for rebels, you must see it through or die trying.

Our Founders overcame fear to lead a successful rebellion that didn’t devolve into endless civil wars and bloodshed, that actually led to a republic with limited government and balances of power in which men were truly free to flourish, justice was upheld, and the people’s voices were heard. That America is still standing after nearly 250 years is a testament to the fortitude, wisdom and genius of those rebels.

What we celebrate on the 4th of July stands out in history for its uniqueness.

Let us not take their sacrifices and bravely lightly. With COVID, we’ve tasted fear and seen the power of an unrestrained government. Never forget the lesson.

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The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal. 

Image Credit: Picryl