Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

Page 20 text:

Graduation Essays IPSWICH AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE (Mary Henderson) No one has ever been able to i-ealize the full significance of the stirrinj - sentence, “Taxation with- out rei)resentation is tyranny,” bet- ter than our own Ipswich forefath- ers. Ever since they had landed on these shores, they had clung to their rights as true sons of England to make their own laws, elect their own rulers, and above all, levy their own taxes. Now comes a hated British tyrant sent over from the mother country to keep the state of Massachusetts in subjection. The first act of the new governor, Andros, is to disre- gard utterly the rights of his sub- jects by highhandedly ordering a tax of a penny on every pound of money in the Colony’s possesion, to be paid as a source of revenue, with- out even consulting the representa- tives of the people. Later, he lev- ied many other taxes without the consent of the people, but no other act of his enraged the Massachu- setts patriots so much as this first one — the ordering of a tax small in amount, no doubt, but very far- reaching in result. Ipswich has a well-founded claim of being the birthplace of American independence. Several other towns before this time had shown signs of discontent, but none had dared to oppose directly the will of Eng- land as Ipswich did. The evening before the day set for the town meeting at which the momentous decision of obedience or disobedience was to be made, a group of well-known men of Ips- wich and Essex gathered at the home of John Appleton, Junior, to consider the question of whether it was right for the citizens to pay this tax. Among those present were the Reverend John Wise, pastor of the chui ch at Essex, William Hubbard, pastor of the Ipswich church, and Mr. John Whipple. After much de- liberation and argument, they de- cided that it was entirely contrary to their rights as English subjects to pay this tax, since they had had nothing at all to say concerning its levying. The Reverend John Wise was then appointed the spokesman to present the views of these men at the town meeting the next day. Early on the morning of August 23, 1687, the people began to as- semble at the old meeting-house up- on the green. They gathered very quietly considering that it was at this very meeting that the first blast of the trump of liberty was to l)e sounded. As soon as the build- ing was filled, the men holding tight to their muskets, for there had been recent threats of Indian attacks, the governor’s warrant, ordering the tax to be paid and tax collectors to be appointed, was read to the as- semblage. There was very little discontent show until the honored pastor of Essex, Mr. Wise, began his impas- sioned appeal to their love of lib- erty. His opinions were very much respected then, and his memory is still held in high esteem, as is shown by the recently proposed plan to make his homestead, with some ad- joining land, a national park. He can truly be called the father of American independence for, al- though his acts preceded the Amer- ican revolution by nearly one hun- 18

Page 19 text:

her victory placed her hand upon it. The duke, wishing to emphasize his superiority, wheeled about to re- move her hand and in doing so, knocked the shield from the sill and it fell down, down, down, and splashed into the cold, inky black moat which surrounded the castle. Lady Ellen stood frozen to the floor for a moment. Stupefaction over- came her and then she rushed toward the window and would have I thrown herself out after the shield had not the duke, jumped in front of her. She fought furiously while the duke, ejaculating oaths, strove to keep her from leaping out of the high window. Lady Ellen, glancing out, saw Sir Roderick on the wall, his men having surrounded the castle on all sides. At the sight of him she shouted and fought all the more vig- orously. Sir Roderick, hearing her cries, saw the duke’s great burly should- ers framed in the window, saw him struggling, and saw an occasional flash of the white of Lady Ellen’s betrothal gown. On the first im- pulse he grasped the shaft of his spear and sent it flying toward the window. At precisely the same mo- ment Lady Ellen gained her way to the window and leaned far out to catch a glimpse of her lost shield. The spear whizzing through the air struck, but its victim was not the intended one and the body of the beautiful Lady Ellen slid from the sill and fell down, down, down, in- to the still, cold moat through whose inky waters showed a faint silvery glimmer. Sir Roderick, seeing what he had done and knowing that life no long- er held happiness for him, bowed his head for a brief moment as if in prayer, and then leaped to the side of his loved one in the moat. There was a splash followed by the cries of men and then the moat, disturbed for a third time within a quarter of an hour, settled to itself. The rays of a fiery setting sun shone quietly on the Castle of Marl- borough,the wind died away, and [hat little portion of the world was quiet once again excepting for the occasional chuckle of the Duke of Marlborough as he grinned down upon the still, cold inky moat. — Edith Richardson. 17

Page 21 text:

dred years, that war was fought on exactly the some principles which Wise emphasized. Furthermore, his later writings were copied in part almost word for word by Thom- as Jefferson in the Declaration of independence. At this town meet- ing Mr. Wise recalled to the people the struggle of their forefathers in England to obtain the rights which meant so much to them. He exhort- ed each one not to bow down to every whim of the tyrant Andros. For they were still British subjects and their mere change of home could not take away their cherished rights. He begged them not to pay the tax, no matter if it was small. Several other men then spoke in a similar strain. The people, real- izing that whatever their leaders said must be right, voted not to pay the tax. Here was struck the first blow for independence, without con- fusion and bloodshed, it is true, but a firm stroke, nevertheless. As soon as Ipswich had blazed the way by open refusal, other towns followed suit, and Andros soon found himself with a very troublesome colony on his hands. Ipswich was, at this time, next to Boston, the most important town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Thus, since Boston had quietly sub- mitted to the governor’s demands, Ipswich as the next largest town, liad to bear the brunt of the wrath of the ruling powers. The men who had spoken at the town meeting and several others who were suspected of having incited the people to open resistance to the governor’s orders, were arrested and tried. Most of them were quickly acquitted, but Samuel Appleton was detained in jail for a long time. Ipswich was roundly censured and was men- tioned in the governor’s report as a trouble-maker. This was the price that Ipswich had to pay for the priv- ilege of bearing on her seal the in- scription : “The Birthplace of American Independence.” Ipswich lived up to her reputa- tion in the years that followed. Ips- wich men were sent to the Revolu- tionary War, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish War, and the World War. A large proportion were distinguished by their bravery. Ipswich men are as ready to fight for the liberty of others now as they were ready to strive for their own independence in a matter of taxa- tion in 1687. For although Ipswich is small, her inhabitants are not lacking in courage. May she there- fore always be the home of Ameri- can independence as well as its birthplace ! THE TRUST FUNDS OF IPSWICH Edward Dolan Ipswich, endowed with a beauti- ful location and a glorious past, has been very fortunate in having money given to her. Funds, amount- ing to $188,000 have been donated. This sum of money hasbeensupplied by funds of the following names : Heard, Treadwell, Manning, Payne, Burley, Crane, Cowles, Jones, and Brown funds. The number of these various funds indicates to some de- gree theii- value to the town of Ips- wich. One of the most interesting funds is the Heard Fund. Augustine Heard led a very eventful life. He was a student at Exeter in his youth and he displayed much talent there as a scholar and a writer. He travel- led to Smyrna in a small schooner at an early age. He loved the sea with its adventure and his life reads like that of a story-book hero. He 19