By The Ohio Patriot

We have all heard the story of The Boston Tea Party. But do we all understand what the Boston Tea Party was, and why it happened? Let me do a recap of the famous story below.

The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by Patriot Colonists to protest against the British Government for the Tea Act. The Tea Act which had been passed by British Parliament in 1773. Colonists objected to the Tea Act for a variety of reasons, especially because they believed that it violated their constitutional right to be taxed only by their own elected representatives. Protestors had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three other colonies, but in Boston, embattled Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. He apparently did not expect that the protestors would choose to destroy the tea rather than concede the authority of a legislature in which they were not directly represented.

The important lessons to be learned by our generation is that our fore fathers could of done nothing, set back and accept what the government told them to pay and do. They chose a significantly different course, they protested. When protesting did no good because the elected officials decided to not listen to the people, our fore fathers decided to fight for freedom, and a great Nation of Free Men was born, The United States of America.

Our Founding Fathers handed down to us documents that founded a free country, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution.

I want to look at one section of the Declaration of Independence called the Preamble. This from Wikipedia: The famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Our Founding Fathers just having fought for their freedom, made sure that our country was founded on the ideals that if a tyrannical government was in power that it was the right and duty of the people to remove the tyrants and restore government for the people.

This explanation brings me to the main point of this article. I believe that in our current political situation there are many people who feel the same as I do, that our government is not listening to the people any longer. I could give my a long explanation of my opinion of why this has come to pass, but let me be brief, the fault lies at our feet. I am a fault. in my case I have in the past happily traveled through life and tended to not pay any attention to what is going on around me until it effects me personally. I know that this made no sense but I also know that I am not alone. I have always felt that I did not want to get personally involved in politics, after all that is why I vote to elect representatives who will speak for me.

What happens when the politicians no longer speak for "We the People" but begin to follow their own agenda or worse an agenda from a party be it democrat or republican. This is called tyranny and the government becomes the tyrant.The definition from Wikipedia of a tyrant is In modern usage, a tyrant carries modern connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population which the tyrant governs or controls.

The Declaration of Independent and our Founding Fathers were specific about a tyrannical government and as far as I can see the only way this can conceivable happen today is if "We the People" allow tyranny to occur by being silent and doing nothing.

Every day I read the news and listen to the radio as I travel and every day another freedom, another right is taken away from "We the People" because we have allowed it to happen by sitting by idly and saying nothing and doing nothing. The time has come to end this tyrannical rule and change the government to be the voice of the people again. We need to wake up and make our voices heard. As long as what I believe to be the silent majority sits by and does nothing assuming that others will fill the void and do what is right, we lose more freedoms every day. Every single person in the United States of America has a duty to our country. Our duty is to insure that these United States remain free for the generations to come, for your children, and their children, and their children.

How do we as American Citizens do our duty? Vote, politicians only get into office by people voting. If the silent majority doesn't vote for a candidates then it is others who make your choice, and you are forced to live with others decisions of what is right for you. Talk to you relatives, your friends, your neighbors and make sure that they also vote. Let them know that others are making decisions for them that effect their lives and the lives of generations to come. Call and write politicians, and make sure you let them know that they work for us, and if they don't speak for us we will vote them out of office and find someone who will speak for "We the People". I call and write my politicians several times a week and you can believe me that they now know me by name and what I expect. Importantly if the politicians don't listen then work to get them out of office. Volunteer to work on a campaign for a candidate that will oppose politicians that don't listen to the people. Join a group, attend a tea party do everything that you can to make sue that elected officials listen.

If we as American Citizens don't wake up and start paying attention to what our local, state and federal politicians are doing I am afraid that we are destine to wake up one day and our country will be gone. If this happens we have nobody to blame but ourselves. As for myself, I am now awake, I hope that the silent majority is waking up and that we are ready to be heard. Otherwise we should not complain about our rights when they are gone.