On this day 250 years ago , the Massachusetts Spy published on its front page radical arguments that would underpin a Revolution to establish a democratic government:
“The people at large, are . . . the only safe repository of the power of framing, amending and repealing laws. . . .
“The province was from its foundation intended a free and sovereign state; that is, a state having all the powers of ruling, ordering and governing, as well as . . . defending itself. . . .
“For any man, or number of men, on earth to declare themselves entitled to make laws which shall be of sufficient validity to bind whole provinces, without consulting said provinces . . . or obtaining the consent of one individual intended to be governed by them, is such an open usurpation, such a direct violation of the fundamental laws of nature and nations, of the Magna Carta of Great-Britain, and the charter of this province . . . Laws they are not, say the whole body of constitutional writers, to which the people do not consent . . . .”
Source: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83021194/1773-11-11/ed-1/?sp=1&st=image
On This Day In The Revolution 
One response to “On this day 250 years ago in the Revolution — November 11, 1773”
Interesting that they should still refer to the Magna Carta half a millennia after it was signed. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea that our mother country sewed the seeds of democracy that sprouted in the Americas. I wonder if the governors of Virginia who allowed for establishment of the House of Burgesses and the ownership of land could have guessed the future outcome of their actions?
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