This Isn’t Permission. It’s Physical Removal. (by Michael Boldin and the The Tenth Amendment Center)
THROW. THEM. OUT.
That’s how John Hancock and the Sons of Liberty dealt with warrantless searches and seizures. They didn’t wait for permission. They didn’t file lawsuits. They literally threw government agents out of town. Commemorating John Hancock’s birthday – January 23, 1737 – this is the incredible story of physical removal – the founders’ timeless blueprint of how to be free, whether the government likes it or not.
THE LYDIA April 1768. British customs agents boarded Hancock’s ship, the Lydia. They were there for tax compliance – searching for smuggled goods as well. Hancock asked for proper authorization to search below deck. They didn’t have it, not even an incredibly broad writ of assistance, a general warrant. Hancock drew a line: you cannot go below deck.
One of the agents did it anyway.
What followed is a timeless example of how the American Revolutionaries understood a free people should act in the face of arbitrary government power. Rather than accept the situation and sue for damages later, Hancock had his crew physically removed the British customs agent – grabbed by the arms and legs, forced topside, thrown out. The British tried to prosecute. The Massachusetts Royal Attorney General refused. The Customs Commissioners were furious. They wanted revenge.
THE LIBERTY One month later, they got their chance. British officials boarded another Hancock ship – the Liberty. This time, they had a Writ – but reported that they found nothing out of order. But over the next few weeks, everything changed – and fast. The 50-gun HMS Romney arrived in harbor. One of the tidesmen who cleared the Liberty suddenly changed his story – now he claimed he was locked below deck while he HEARD (not saw) Hancock’s men secretly unloading smuggled cargo at night.
The captain who could contradict him? Conveniently, and suddenly, dead. No corroboration. No other witnesses. But for the British commissioners it was enough. British officials then showed up at Hancock’s wharf to seize the Liberty. They knew this would be dangerous, so they signaled the Romney for backup. They boarded the ship and executed the seizure.
But before the naval help could arrive – the people of Boston had already done something that probably sounds impossible to most of us alive today. They didn’t just complain, they took action and physically RETOOK the ship from the British agents – re-seized what was just seized from John Hancock. The Romney’s boats arrived as the people overwhelmed the customs agents. The sailors from the Royal Navy boarded, fought them off, and drove the crowd back to shore – marking the THIRD seizure in rapid succession in this wild seesaw battle over the Liberty. The sailors quickly cut the ship loose, and the people severely pelted them with stones as they towed it away.
And if that doesn’t already sound insane – it escalated massively from here.
Writs, Riots, and Redcoats: Hancock’s Spark of the Revolution
NULLIFICATION – IN 1768
Within hours, the waterfront crowd swelled to 3,000 (in a city of just over 15,000 residents!) They chased down customs agents through the streets of Boston, throwing sticks, rocks and whatever else they could get their hands on. When they caught them, they beat them, dragged them, and literally carried them to the Wharf. They smashed windows at customs officials’ homes. They seized a British boat, dragged it to the Common, and burned it to ashes. The customs commissioners – and most of the other officers under them – were thrown out of town. They fled to the Romney for safety. Then retreated further to Castle William.
Royal Governor Hutchinson knew what he was facing. The sheriff’s own men were Sons of Liberty and refused to enforce anything. The courts froze too. No warrants. No arrests. No cooperation. The entire British enforcement system collapsed under this full-spectrum nullification by the people of Boston. It’s a story the government-run schools just don’t teach.
THE ULTIMATE REMOVAL The British response to what happened after the Liberty seizure? They did what empires always do. They viewed the people of Boston as a nail – and the standing army as their hammer. Soon, eight more warships arrived in Boston harbor, and the next day redcoats arrived on the Long Wharf to begin the occupation of Boston, what Paul Revere called their “insolent parade.” But they weren’t there to look pretty – they were armed and ready to fire.
Over the next year and a half, rather than scaring the people into submission, things escalated further, resulting in the Boston Massacre in March 1770. And the rest is history. What started with Hancock physically removing one customs agent ended with American patriots doing the same to the entire British government – the ultimate act of physical removal: American Independence.”
Happy Birthday, John Hancock, January 23, 1737! We have not forgotten you and your courageous colleagues, the Sons of Liberty!
Let’s make America’s 250th Birthday celebrations this year memorable and meaningful in their honor, the men and women of the American Revolution!
Reposted with permission by Michael Boldin and the The Tenth Amendment Center WeTheKids Inc: Reviving constitution and history for kids and adults. ‘We The Kids’ goal is to bring GOD back to America’s story.
Reposted with permission by Lucy Gonzales
