No Kings Day

June 14, 2025

To paraphrase George Santayana, those who refuse to study history are doomed to repeat it.

In the lead-up to the American Revolution, King George III of England sought to impose the will of Parliament on the American colonies. Granted, England supported the colonists in the French and Indian Wars (1757-1763), but now felt it was time to pay for that protection.

Parliament imposed a series of Acts, executive orders, if you will. Colonists were not represented in Parliament. A Vineyarder, Jonathan Mayhew, of Chilmark, promoted the phrase, “No taxation without representation.” Vineyard historian Arthur Railton, observed, “Many credit his fiery sermons with being the sparks that ignited a feeble fire that later burst into flames as the American Revolution.” Railton (60).

The Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765) and Townsend Acts (1767) were known collectively as the Intolerable Acts. (See: Reconciliation Bill that Republicans intend to foist on the American public to give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of health care for children and seniors.) The Intolerable Acts infuriated the colonists.

Parliament sent Redcoats to Boston to quell local anguish. The presence of the military agitated the local populace. (See: National Guard and Marines sent into LA a week ago.) Locals taunted Redcoats. The Boston Massacre (1770) was a reaction to sending military personnel into local communities.

Parliament (See: Republicans) failed or refused to grasp the writing on the wall, allowing antagonism to swell.

King George III was the monarch who encouraged Parliament to impose martial law on the colonists. (Donald Trump, who thinks he is a monarch, encourages/allows his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to demand ICE deport 3000 people a day, regardless of their immigration status. That is not a policy most Americans support.)

What could go wrong?

Welcome to No Kings Day. Enjoy an opportunity to protest with fellow citizens against a wanna-be monarch.

Tom Dresser

Photo: John Washbrook at the April 5 Hands Off rally in Vineyard Haven.