[The Undertoad]

Someone put up a flier in my residence hall. It's a copy of the Bill of Rights, and simply says "Protect and Defend. Sons of Liberty." There's a picture of the liberty bell, and the date & time they meet. It's tonight, so I'm kind of curious.

Does anybody have any info on this group? I'm guessing it's a revival of the historical "Sons of Liberty," or maybe a Libertarian group? I think I'm going to the meeting tonight just to see what it's about. :)

[Ian]

Cool! I haven't heard about such a group; they're probably local to your university. Definitely let us know what they turn out to be.

[Jonesy9]

warm up the tar and empty the feather beds! let's tar and feather some Tory's!

[Mike Irwin]

I would hope that it's not quite a true revival of the Sons of Liberty.

They weren't exactly what the historical legends tell us.

They were more along the lines of the Sturmabteilung in Germany in the 1930s. Not quite as nasty, but close.

[gun-fucious]

Shrouded in secrecy, the origins of the Sons of Liberty are in dispute. Some historical sources claim that the movement began in New York City in January 1765. A more popular claim is that the movement began in Boston, Massachusetts through the leadership of one Samuel Adams (a well known American Revolutionary firebrand) in early 1765. It is quite likely that the Boston and New York City chapters of the Sons of Liberty were organized and developed simultaneously. Tradition has it that the Boston chapter gathered beneath the Liberty Tree for meetings while the New York City chapter met beneath the Liberty Pole for its meetings. For reasons of safety and secrecy, Sons of Liberty groups tended to meet late at night so as not to attract attention and detection of British officials and the American Loyalist supporters of the British Crown.



This secret patriotic society had its roots in the Committees of Correspondence. The "Committees" were colonial groups organized prior to the outbreak of the American War for Independence and were established for the purpose of formally organizing public opinion and coordinating patriotic actions against Great Britain. These original committees were loosely organized groups of private citizens formed in the New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island colonies from 1763-1764.



It was the Boston Committee of Correspondence that directed the Boston Tea Party action of December 16, 1773.1 Upset with the lack of redress concerning the new tax on tea established by the British government for importation of tea to Boston, a small band of the Boston Committee of Correspondence members (approximately fifty in number) lead by Samuel Adams, proceeded to empty three ships worth and 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor in protest.2



Was this an early terrorist action or a patriotic action. Surely, the answer lies with perspective. If you were a British official, this action was treasonous and punishable by death. If you were an American colonial citizen, this event would be seen as a glorious action of the freedom fighters worthy of praise, pride, and acclaim.



Essentially, the Sons of Liberty organized into patriotic chapters as a result of the Stamp Tax imposed by the British government on the American colonists in 1765. As a result of the heavy debt incurred from the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the resulting burden of increased British possessions in the Americas gained as a result of victory in the war (Canada, Louisiana land area known as "New France," and several former French islands of the West Indies), British Parliament decided to station British "regular" troops in the American colonies to keep the French from attempting to recapture Canada and to defend the colonies against the Native American Indians.3 It should be noted that the vast majority of Native Americans sided with the French in the North American Theater of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and had a notorious record of carrying out terrifying raids against British colonists in the frontier regions of the New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina colonies dating back to the middle seventeenth century.

http://earlyamerica.com/review/fall96/sons.html

[cookhj]

well, if you're down at W&M, it might be something withe CW, like an historical interpretation. just my $.02.

[The Undertoad]

Wow guys, thanks for all the info! All I knew of the original was my hazy recollections of High School History class... ;)

I went tonight, it was actually only the 2nd meeting ever of the group. I was one of seven to show up (all white males) and I was the oldest one there! Three freshmen and three sophomores, and little old me...

It's basically a libertarian club, with no real connection to any political parties. We talked about what we could do around campus to raise perception of Libertarians. It seems that many college kids around here think Libertarian = Republican who smokes pot. :rolleyes:

They're having a fundraising bake sale on Saturday, the bake sale is also a protest of affirmative action and the College's "Summer Early Start" program for minorities. They're trying to get a speaker from the Free State Project to come down. I proposed we take on "Bulletproof," a recently formed (or so I think, this semester is the only time I've seen posters for them) anti-2nd amendment club on campus. :evil:

They seem like a decent group so far.

[The Undertoad]

Cook, I am indeed at W&M...I'm very glad it wasn't something like that! CW is scary! :uhoh:

[rock jock]

It seems that many college kids around here think Libertarian = Republican who smokes pot.
the bake sale
So, will they selling "special" brownies at this bake sale? :D

[Kharn]

Check out this Bake sale after-action report. (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1014757/posts)
Good luck with it.

Kharn

[The Undertoad]

rockjock - Nah, we'll leave that to the SSDP group on campus. ;)

Kharn, I wouldn't be surprised if that was where they got the idea! That was a good read.

[jimpeel]

"The Son's of Liberty". Anyone here remember the movie "Johnny Tremain" by Disney? The Son's of Liberty was the group that Johnny belonged to and he hung around with Paul Revere.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0050567/maindetails

Plot Summary for
Johnny Tremain (1957)

In colonial Boston, a young silversmith's apprentice injures his hand, and finds himself befriended by the Sons of Liberty and caught up in events of the American Revolution.

[Mike Irwin]

Loved that movie as a kid.

Now I realize how sanitized some aspects of American history are...

[jimpeel]

Once I brought it up, I couldn't resist going to Amazon and ordering "Johnny Tremain", "Light in the forest", and "Kidnapped".

Now if we can just get Disney to release "Song of the South" ...

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

[Mike Irwin]

"Light in the Forest" was one of my absolute favorite books when I was growing up.

It was set in the area where I grew up, the South Central Susquehanna River Valley.