So…the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is coming up in just a couple of weeks. Remember? The war started at Lexington and Concord, over a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You probably haven’t heard much about it because the turmoil has been flying thick and fast around us for the past, oh, ten years. But you’ll be hearing a LOT about the anniversary here. I’ll be leaning back into U.S. history for a while in a way that I have not done for some time because now the occasion warrants it. That’s right: we interrupt this program so that we may bring you this public service announcement. Once upon a time, it was lanterns in church towers, and a guy yelling on horseback. Today, it’s a blog.
By my count, 18 of my ancestors fought in the American Revolution, and dozens of relations besides. To my knowledge, at least one of them fought at Lexington and Concord. His name was Ichabod Turner, one of my hundred or so (5th) great grandfathers. He marched 40 miles to the fighting with the Wrentham Mass. Minutemen. It’s a good thing he was a shoemaker! Here are the receipts:
As it happens, Ichabod was the grandson of an Adams, and his son Calvin, who also fought in the Revolution several years later, married another Adams, all descended from the same immigrant ancestor of John Adams and Samuel Adams, the patriarch Henry Adams. All these Adamses and Turners did not fight an eight year war for independence from a king…in order to install a new tyrant 250 years down the line. A king by any other name is still a king. It doesn’t matter if he was born in America, or England, or Cloud-Cuckoo-Land, or if he’s called a President or a Prime Minister or a Grand Poobah: if there are no checks on a leader, he’s a king, and since America’s founding, this country has always been opposed to absolute rulers. The Founders would roll over in their graves if they knew what was happening in their country right now. You cannot call yourself an American Patriot and embrace a king. Full stop.
April 19 is the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington. There will be peaceful demonstrations there in order to remind people what the revolution was all about — since we seem to be in the midst of a counter-revolution. I’m hoping lots and lots of people will show up, so I’m telling you (especially if you’re a New Englander). Details are here.
I’m so glad to hear this is being organized because I’ve been saying for weeks we need to harness these Revolutionary anniversaries as teachable moments. Great minds think alike: I noticed today that Harold Myerson had written something similar in The American Prospect. His idea is that every town should observe the Lexington and Concord anniversary with similar demonstrations — to renew the universal, age-old struggle against monarchical tyranny. I hope you will join us in the streets. Myerson’s op-ed is here.
We’re still a couple of weeks out from April 19, though. Meantime, very large protests are planned for cities large and small all over the country this coming Saturday, April 5. This one is targeted specifically to send a message in protest of the unconstitutional, unilateral downsizing of vital government agencies by the unelected Elon Musk and DOGE. People all over the world will literally die as a result as some of these cuts. Our country — and your family — will be less safe, secure, and healthy. You may not love everything the government does — but you already paid into Social Security and Medicare. Surely you’re OWED what you already paid for? They’re planning to take those away along with everything else. Please add your voice to the chorus to protect that stuff. Go here to find the nearest gathering in your area.