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Both Samuel Adams and Benjamin Rush were active promoters of protesting
[[File:PhpFvUL9cPM.jpg|thumb|175px|Citizens engage in the act of self-government at the annual [[March for Life]]]]
[[File:PhpFvUL9cPM.jpg|thumb|175px|Citizens engage in the act of self-government at the annual [[March for Life]]]]
[[File:TeaPartyByFreedomFan.JPG|thumb|175px|Tea Party activists march on the Capital Building]]
[[File:TeaPartyByFreedomFan.JPG|thumb|175px|Tea Party activists march on the Capital Building]]
A '''Protest''' is a non-violent gathering of citizens meeting together and expressing themselves in a legitimate show of [[self-government]]. Protesting is mentioned in the Constitution as "the right of the people peaceably to assemble", and as such, protesting is a constitutional responsibility driven by moral imperatives.
A '''Protest''' is a non-violent gathering of citizens meeting together and expressing themselves in a legitimate show of [[self-government]]. Protesting is mentioned in the Constitution as "the right of the people peaceably to assemble", and as such, protesting is a constitutional responsibility driven by moral imperatives. The [[Founding Fathers]] recognized the importance of protesting and promoted and participated in the practice often, most notably at "Tea Party" events such as the [[Boston Tea Party]]. Protests were also frequent around Boston's famous [[Liberty Tree]].<ref>[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Protocols_of_Liberty/VWJJAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA73 Protocols of Liberty - Communication Innovation and the American Revolution]</ref>
The media typically blur the distinctions between a protest and a mob [[riot]].
The media typically blur the distinctions between a protest and a mob [[riot]].
==Background==
==Background==
Protest movements have had a long history in the United States. When a group of people feels they are being marginalized, sometimes they will gather in a show of numbers. Parades, rallies, and speeches are the usual forum, but sometimes protests transform into violent [[riot]]s and hooliganism. One of the earliest and most famous protests in American history was the [[Boston Tea Party]], a protest against British-imposed tax laws known as the [[Townshend Acts]]. After the American Revolution, protesting became enshrined in 1789 as one of five protections enumerated in the [[First Amendment]]. The full text is as follows:
Protest movements have had a long history in the United States. When a group of people feels they are being marginalized, sometimes they will gather in a show of numbers. Parades, rallies, and speeches are the usual forum, but sometimes protests transform into violent [[riot]]s and hooliganism. One of the earliest and most famous protests in American history was the [[Boston Tea Party]], a protest against British-imposed tax laws known as the [[Townshend Acts]]. After the colonists learned of Parliament's plan to impose a [[Tea Act|tea tax]], signers of the [[Declaration of Independence]] [[Samuel Adams]] and [[Benjamin Rush]] promoted the gathering of like-minded citizens in protest against the landing of the tea. Rush wrote:
:By the last accounts from Britain we are informed that vessels were freighted to bring over a quantity of tea taxed with a duty to raise a revenue from America. Should it be landed, it is to be feared it will find its way amongst us. Then farewell American Liberty! We are undone forever. All the images we can borrow from everything terrible in nature are too faint to describe the horror of our situation. But I rely too much upon that virtue which has hitherto distinguished my countrymen to cherish a thought that this will be the case. Let us with one heart and hand oppose the landing of it.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mpaaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 Letters of Benjamin Rush: Volume I: 1761-1792], To His Fellow Countrymen, On Patriotism, October 20, 1773</ref>
Rush would then say that the tea represented something worse than death, "the seeds of Slavery".<ref>To His Fellow Countrymen, On Patriotism</ref> After the American Revolution, protesting became enshrined in 1789 as one of five protections enumerated in the [[First Amendment]]. The full text is as follows:
:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or '''the right of the people peaceably to assemble''', and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or '''the right of the people peaceably to assemble''', and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
*[[Massachusetts Circular Letter]]
*[[Massachusetts Circular Letter]]
*[[Edenton Tea Party]]
*[[Edenton Tea Party]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Political Movements]]
[[Category:Political Movements]]
[[Category:Tax Revolts]]
[[Category:Tax Revolts]]