Chapter 2350 Anti-Tax Movement (Ⅱ) (Addition)

Sir Fogel's fleet had a smooth journey and arrived at Leiden Harbor a week ago. There were a lot of people on the pier that day, almost all of them were mobilized by the "Sons of Liberty" to protest.

In the face of tens of thousands of protesters, Sir Fogel showed redoubled arrogance, refused to talk to the people, and ordered heavily armed private guards to disperse the protesters, which almost led to bloody conflicts.

On the second day after taking office, Sir Fogel announced the dissolution of the Leiden City Council, took over the power alone, and appointed his cronies brought from the empire to serve as "land surveyors" and "tax collectors", determined to forcibly collect land taxes, further Intensified the resentment of all walks of life in the colony towards him.

Under the organization of "Sons of Liberty", Alfheim set off a vigorous "anti-tax movement". The momentum was huge, and the participation of all walks of life was extensive, comparable to the anti-tax movement that broke out in the Far East.

The literati, scholars and social activists in Alfheim also expressed their opinions on the anti-tax movement through newspapers and pamphlets. Most of them stood on the side of supporting the anti-tax people and severely criticized the burden and tyranny imposed on the colonial people by the imperial government. .

Of all these essays, one of the most brilliant was written by Alexander Jefferson, the present president of Leiden College.

In this pamphlet entitled "Summary of the Rights of the Overseas Colonies of the Ashan Empire", Mr. Jefferson creatively put forward the "free immigration theory", which laid the theoretical basis for the anti-tax movement.

"Most of the immigrants who moved from the old world to the new continent came here at their own expense. They neither received financial support from the royal family of their home country, nor relied on the official military power of their home country. In fact, it has completely drawn a line from its mother country, which is separated by oceans."

From these facts, Mr. Jefferson draws a more radical inference:

"From the moment a colony is born, it is no longer subordinate to the mother country's government. There should only be one relationship between the colony and the mother country, that is, a reciprocal diplomatic relationship between countries. In the land of the free, tax the colonists of the free!"

...

In addition to the "free immigration theory", Jefferson also put forward two radical and almost rebellious thesis in his "Summary of the Rights of the Empire's Overseas Colonies".

The first is Jefferson's contemptuous attitude towards the emperor Charles IV, the contemporary monarch of the Holy Ashean Empire, and the "monarchy" regime that has been passed down from ancient times to the present.

In the New World, the conflict between the colonies and the suzerain has a long history, and the colonists have never stopped complaining about the suzerain.

Among all these complaints, including those "radicals" who advocated the independence of the colonies, the focus of criticism is the wrong policies adopted by the suzerain country towards the colonies, such as apportioning various exorbitant taxes, such as preventing the colonists from expanding westward, and robbing the Asa people land, and went on to attack the cabinet bureaucrats who made these policies as incompetent.

It is not difficult to see from this that most colonists tend to think that His Majesty the Emperor is wise, and it is all because the evil ministers deceived the Holy One!

It is precisely based on this mentality that whenever the colonists feel that they have been treated unfairly by the authorities of their mother country, they often write a "petition" with the support of the local assembly, try to submit it to His Majesty the Emperor, and implore the benevolent and wise Emperor to replace them. The colonial subjects upheld justice, revoked unjust decrees, and punished those barbaric nobles and fatuous ministers under them.

It wasn't until Jefferson published "A Summary of the Rights of the Empire's Overseas Colonies" that he tore off this layer of self-deception for the first time, and bluntly pointed out that "the monarch is an accomplice to the bureaucracy in violation of the rights of the people in the colonies"!

In this pamphlet, Jefferson severely reprimanded the imperial monarch Charles IV for his indifference to the colonial people, and listed the following crimes committed by the emperor himself:

"Refused to listen to the petitions of those whose rights have been violated!"

"Send troops to colonial cities to suppress legal protests!"

"It is forbidden for the colonial people to cross the Vimur River to the west and carry out normal immigration activities!"

"In order to protect the interests of the suzerain, the ugly slave trade is acquiesced in the colonies!"

Not only that, in this pamphlet, Jefferson also bluntly put forward a declaration of "Republicanism" that excited the blood of all progressive youths in the colonies who were deeply influenced by Enlightenment ideas:

"We rise up against a foolish monarch, not to usher in a wise one to replace him."

"The monarch comes and goes, but the 'throne' stands there all the time, and the latter is the root of all evil!"

"Our opposition to the monarch has nothing to do with being stupid or wise. The more fundamental and nobler motive is to overthrow the throne and completely liberate the free people from the shackles of kingship!"

"We no longer need a monarch. In this land of freedom, we will not tolerate the existence of any privileged class that overrides the rights of ordinary citizens!"

...

·Historical Materials: Free Immigration Theory ("Jefferson Biography" (USA) Joseph J. Ellis)

Throughout the fall and winter of 1775, Jefferson did an intensive study of Richard Hakluyt's Voyages. The purpose is to support the claim that the earliest immigrants from England came to the United States at their own expense, "without British financial support and British (official) power."

More importantly, he believes that they have completely drawn the line with Britain.

If true, this revision of history was the most revolutionary outcome, for it showed that independence from Great Britain was not the future picture he and the other Continental Congress delegates had in mind, but had actually happened in the past.

...

·Summary of British American Rights ("Jefferson Biography" (USA) Joseph J. Ellis)

In 1774 he (Jefferson) volunteered to draft a series of instructions for the Virginia delegation to the Continental Congress. Unwilling to debate it publicly in the Virginia legislature, he wrote it down.

But his friend got the manuscript out in a Williamsburg press, and it was circulated among publishers and newspaper editors, and the pamphlet, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, was read throughout the colonies.

The pamphlet was aimed at Virginia legislators, but they did not take his advice, instructing the delegation to adopt a moderate attitude towards Britain.

Jefferson's views were quite radical, which earned him political fame outside of Virginia.

In fact, if the views in the "Synthesis of Rights in British America" ​​had been accepted, it would have been enough to make Jefferson the vanguard of the American Revolutionary Movement.

The style of A Summary of the Rights of British America is concise, clear, and powerful, and has strongly anticipated some of the ideas in the later "Declaration of Independence".

Four chapters today, and five chapters tomorrow.

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