As the delegates rode home after the convention had concluded its work, the minds of some must have gone over the developments of those seventeen decades, the heritage of self-government which their ancestors had brought with them from England, the struggle to defend their liberty against the assaults of despotic Kings and despotic Governors, the spirit of self-reliance fostered by life in the New World, and now the attempts of a reactionary government in Great Britain to turn back the hands of the clock and deprive them of the rights they had won. It had been James I and Charles I, and even George III who, in their dealings with the colonies, had insisted upon "obedience," but the colonists insisted upon another word, the word "liberty." Now that they had won liberty, it remained to be seen whether they could preserve it against the attacks of the British armies and navy. And none could foresee that at Yorktown, but a few miles away, British armed might in America was destined to be broken, as its political power had already been broken at Williamsburg.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Virginia Gazette, P. and D., Oct. 27, 1768.
[2] Ibid.
[3] CO5-1332, Feb. 18, 1769.
[4] Virginia Gazette, P. and D., May 18, 1769.
[5] Ibid.
[6] CO5-1332, Botetourt to Hillsborough, May 19, 1769.
[7] Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1766-1769: 227.
[8] Virginia Gazette, P. and D. Oct. 18, 1770.