The Capitol Siege Has Deep Roots in American History — Part I
This is Part I of a series on the more than 40 micro-rebellions that have occurred in America since the Revolutionary War. These uprisings have been sparked by political grievances, economic injustices, racial bigotry and paranoia. The Capitol Insurrection of January 6th is not without precedent. Understanding what sparked these earlier revolts makes it easier to understand what caused the January 6th uprising. Part I covers the early economic revolts.
Introduction
Images of Trump cultists and white supremacists storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6th horrified most Americans who were mortified by the spasmodic violence and the sacking and destruction of The People’s House. Not just because of the gleeful, wanton damage these marauders inflicted, but because of how easy it was for them to breach the barriers and storm the halls of Congress.
How quickly it occurred should remind us how fragile our democracy is. Up until now, I bought into the idea that our 232-year-old republic (beginning with George Washington’s March 4, 1789 inauguration) was sturdy and unassailable. The past four years disprove that. Democracy in America demands and needs far more protection. Four years of Trumpism have destroyed any commonly-held truths and beliefs in our government, eroded the foundations of our political institutions, damaged the faith our friends and allies once placed in us and made us poorer and sicker.
If this wasn’t tragic enough, 74 million Americans still believe that this evil clown, this Joker, this Pennywise who once inhabited the White House is the exclusive font of all truths, the source of their health, wealth and well-being, and not the sociopathic Satan he truly is. He is nothing more than a Hitler wannabe, a purveyer of the Big Lie, smart enough to manipulate the levers of social media and gull the gullible into thinking he is a Sun King.
The sacking of the Capitol Building by Trump true believers is not without precedent and taps into a deep vein in American history. There have been scores of micro-rebellions in our history, some sparked by economic deprivation, sincere belief in a cause, high taxes or revolts against occupation or a hostile, disenfranchising government. Other flames have been fanned by the shackles of slavery, white supremacy, unfair draft laws and draconian labor practices.
Native Americans and Puerto Rican nationalists have revolted against the government. Slaves have risen up against slaveholders. American youth has protested against a government waging a foreign war. Prisoners at a New York institution overpowered guards over poor living conditions and the shooting death of a black militant leader. American militias have risen up against the federal government over land policies. And finally, President Trump’s brainwashed supporters, armed to the teeth, believing the presidency was stolen from their idol, invaded Washington to overturn the election, despite all evidence the contrary.
Some of these micro-rebellions were prompted by causes that, in history’s rear-view mirror, were good and just. Some were fired by narrow regional interests. And some had their genesis in ideologies that were, at their most generous, feudal, and at their worst, oppressive and evil. One uprising, last week’s attempt to upend the Constitution, was unique in our history: it was fueled by ambitions of a corrupt sociopath bent on thwarting the will of voters by trashing the sacred democratic rite of the peaceful transfer of power.
The Economic Uprisings
Shays Rebellion — In 1786, Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an armed rebellion in western Massachusetts to protest high taxes levied by the banking and merchant elites in Boston who were attempting to retire debts incurred in the Revolutionary War. The Rebels were a post-Revolutionary War band of Robin Hoods. They blocked tax collectors, seized property confiscated for back taxes and returned the property to its former owners. More than a thousand armed protesters marched on a federal armory in Springfield. Militia dispatched by Gov. James Bowdoin engaged the militants, killing four and wounding 20. The failure of the federal government to respond led nationalists like George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to abandon the Articles of Confederation and draft a new constitution.
The Whiskey Insurrection took place from 1791 through 1794 in western Pennsylvania during Washington’s first term of office. A levy on spirits was the first tax imposed on a product by the fledgling federal government, also to help pay off debts run up by the war. Led by another veteran, James McFarlane, the crisis came to a head when a federal marshal attempted to serve a writ on farmers who had not paid the tax.
A group of 500 farmers attacked the home of a tax assessor, prompting Washington to raise an army of 13,000 militiamen from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to suppress the rebellion. The rebels went home before the army’s arrival. About 20 men were arrested but all were later acquitted or pardoned. The Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated that the new national government had the will and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws and it accelerated the formation of political parties in the United States. The whiskey tax was repealed in the early 1800s during the Jefferson administration.
Fries Rebellion, also known as The House Tax Rebellion, was the third tax revolt during our nation’s infancy. In 1798, Congress levied a tax on houses and slaves to finance an impending war with France. A Pennsylvania auctioneer named John Fries organized meetings in the southeastern part of the state to protest the tax, gatherings mainly attended by German-American farmers. Two hundred years before social media erased the boundaries between truth and lie, the farmers were easily misled by rumors, such as the “news” that President John Adams planned a wedding between one of his sons and a daughter of King George III. Tax assessors were intimidated by the farmers and the appraisers could not complete their work. In early March of 1799, a local militia of about 100 men captured a number of assessors, releasing them with just a warning. U.S Marshals began arresting people for tax resistance and rebels formed groups to free them. President John Adams sent in federal troops who began making wholesale arrests, among them, Fries. Thirty men went on trial in Federal court. Fries and two others were tried for treason and sentenced to be hanged. Adams pardoned Fries and the others convicted of treason. He later issued a general amnesty for everyone.
The Anti-Rent War began when Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a Dutch patroon who had vast landholdings in New York’s Hudson Valley, died in 1839. Van Rensselaer was described as a benevolent land owner who let tenants slip by without paying rent. Not so his descendants. Van Rensselaer’s leases had a provision which required tenants who sold their contracts to remit one quarter of the sale price or an additional year’s rent.
When Van Rensselaer’s heirs attempted to collect, tenants couldn’t pay. Nor could they obtain relief in the courts, so they revolted. In December of 1839, the Anti-Renters repulsed a 500-man posse led by Albany County Sheriff Michael Artcher. Gov. William Seward, later President Lincoln’s Secretary of State, quelled the rebellion behind the threat of a 700-man militia. Rebel leaders were charged with riot, conspiracy and robbery. They were tried in 1845. Two were sentenced to death by hanging for shooting an undersheriff during a forced property sale, the sentence later commuted. In 1846, the New York Constitution was amended by abolishing feudal tenures and outlawing leases lasting longer than 12 years.
The Insurrection in Greenwood NY took place in February of 1882 when citizens of Greenwood resisted the seizure and sale of their property to pay for bonds intended to build the Rochester, Hornellsville and Pine Creek Railroad. The railroad planned to build a line from Hornellsville NY to the New York-Pennsylvania state line. Greenwood and other communities borrowed money to pay for construction — in Greenwood’s case $30,000 — equivalent to $640,000 today. The Panic of 1873 bankrupted the railroad and the line was never built. Greenwood had nothing to show for its bonds.
Greenwood paid interest on the loan until 1874 when the entire principal of $8,000 became due. Residents refused to pay it. Most of the people in Greenwood were bitter and made threats against the tax collectors. From 1878 to 1882, there were several unsuccessful attempts to foreclose on properties to pay for the debt, but before the sales could be completed, several would-be purchasers were seriously injured. In February of 1878, several lots of personal property under tax liens were offered for sale. About two hundred people assembled at the sale site and threatened potential buyers with guns and revolvers.
On February 7, 1882, a tax collector attempted to make 98 sales. The collector was accompanied by a posse of forty men who were met by a group of 250 well-armed taxpayers who forced the auctions to be halted. Four days later, Gov. Alonzo Cornell proclaimed that a state of insurrection existed, accusing the citizens of unlawful assembly, issuing threats and preventing tax collection.
During the next few months, the town’s sheriff was able to collect some of the delinquent taxes. The Governor declared the insurrection over. It was not until 1896 that Greenwood obtained rail service from the New York & Pennsylvania Railroad.
End of Part I