Revolution: a success story: Ray Raphael at TEDxEureka

Summary

In his engaging TEDx talk, Ray Raphael sheds light on a lesser-known yet pivotal chapter in American history that predates the famed battles of Lexington and Concord: the Massachusetts revolution of 1774. He recounts how a massive turnout of 4,622 militia men from Worcester County effectively dissolved British authority by peacefully closing the courts, marking the first successful transfer of power in the colonies. Raphael challenges the conventional narratives that prioritize events like the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's ride, advocating for a broader recognition of grassroots revolutions where collective action, rather than iconic imagery, defined historical progress.

Highlights

• In 1774, 4,622 militia men from Worcester County marched to close the British court, a bold move that prefigured the larger revolution to come. 🚶‍♂️
• The militia's actions represented a peaceful yet forceful transfer of power, a narrative often missing from textbooks. 📖
• Ray Raphael questions why these vital stories of collective action are overshadowed by tales of individual heroics and conflict. ❓

Key Takeaways

• The Massachusetts revolution of 1774 was a significant, yet often overlooked, grassroots uprising before the American War of Independence. 🇺🇸
• Over 4,622 militia men peacefully closed courts in Worcester County, effectively ending British rule in the area without conflict. 🤝
• Traditional historical narratives often emphasize events with clear heroes and battles, sidelining crucial moments of collective action. 📚

Overview

Ray Raphael takes us back in time to September 6th, 1774, highlighting Worcester, Massachusetts, as the unexpected stage for a pivotal yet understated revolution. Contrary to popular belief that the American Revolution began in 1775, Raphael details how the people of Massachusetts already began their insurgency months earlier, effectively shaking off British rule when militia men peacefully, yet forcefully, closed British courts in their region.

The crux of Raphael's argument centers around why such significant events remain in the historical shadows. He suggests that our collective storytelling has been shaped to prefer dramatic battles and iconic figures over the quieter but compelling tales of large-scale civilian action. The Massachusetts revolution demonstrates the power of grassroots mobilization, contradicting the conventional 'David vs. Goliath' narrative often highlighted in American history.

In advocating for a more inclusive historical narrative, Raphael urges us to recognize these episodes where ordinary people orchestrated extraordinary change. His talk isn't just about revisiting the past; it's a call to acknowledge and celebrate the less glamorous but equally powerful roles that collective action and civilian uprising played in shaping the United States.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:00: Introduction and Historical Context The chapter introduces Worcester, Massachusetts, setting the scene in the context of its historical significance just before the American Revolution. It describes the gathering of militia men from 37 distinct towns, including Xbridge near the Rhode Island border and Winon near New Hampshire, on September 6, 1774. This event is presented as a precursor to the actions that sparked the revolution several months later.
• 02:00 - 05:00: The Uprising in Worcester The chapter titled 'The Uprising in Worcester' describes a significant historical event in which 4,622 militia men, representing half the adult male population of Worcester County, gather in protest. Their anger is directed at the British Parliament, which has revoked the Massachusetts charter as a punitive measure for the Boston Tea Party. This revocation strips the people of the right to hold town meetings, a practice they had held for 150 years and used for self-governance. The uprising illustrates the growing unrest and resistance among the colonists as they face increasing restrictions from British rule.
• 05:00 - 08:00: The Narrative We Don't Tell The chapter discusses the shift in the appointment of colonial officials from being elected by the people to being appointed by the king or the king's governor. This change leads to disenfranchisement and causes unrest among the people, who decide to take action against British authority. When court officials attempt to enter the courthouse, they find it barricaded and filled with militia, symbolizing resistance to the imposed changes.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Narrative Structures and Their Impact The chapter discusses a tense scenario where militia men have taken over a town and are determining their control. The townspeople have sought refuge in a local tavern owned by Daniel Haywood. As the militia decides the process of surrender outside, they line up on Main Street, each side having about 2,300 men. Eventually, an official is brought out from the tavern as part of the ongoing proceedings.

Revolution: a success story: Ray Raphael at TEDxEureka Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Worcester Massachusetts the shy toown or county seat of Worcester County the date is September 6th 1774 this is 7 months before the American Revolution supposedly began at Lexington and Conquer now at dawn the militia Men start marching into town they come from xbridge down by the Rhode Island border and from winon up by New Hampshire from 37 distinct towns this is
• 00:30 - 01:00 literally about an actual headcount 4,622 militia men half the adult male population of the entire sprawling rural County now these men are angry to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party the British Parliament has just yanked away the charter for all of Massachusetts for 150 years people have been Gathering their in their Town meetings to govern themselves on most matters but now they can't even call the town meeting anymore they've been exercising some say
• 01:00 - 01:30 over the choice of their of their officials uh all the way from the governor's Council down to the local sheriffs but now all these are going to be appointed either directly by the king or by the king's appointed Governor so these people are disenfranchised and they're rising up as a body to say no way they are going to close the court The Outpost of British Authority in Worcester County so when two do Court officials show up to work in their dress suits and wigs and they go up to the courthouse it's all barricaded filled with militia
• 01:30 - 02:00 men inside the town is teeming with militia men bent on seizing their Authority with nowhere else to go they Retreat to Daniel Haywood's Tavern halfway down Main Street and huddle inside while the militia men outside decide the formalities of their surrender so here's what the militia men decide to do first of all they line up on Main Street from Haywood's Tavern up to the cour house about 2,300 on each side and then they Usher forth from the tavern one of the officials and he
• 02:00 - 02:30 stands between the lines and he takes his hat in his hand and he recites the recantation that he's been he and the other officials have been forced to sign he says uh we seed to the authority of the people we will never execute the the unconstitutional Act of the British Parliament that reduces people from arbitrary power that's a strong recantation but the problem is only these people heard it it stretches for a quarter mile so he has to step forward and say it to the next group and then to
• 02:30 - 03:00 the next group and over and over and over 30 times each over 30 times each he walks The Gauntlet reciting his recantation and all the other officials have to do the same thing and with this dramatic and humiliating display of submission the courts are closed and all British Authority disappears from Worcester County never to return now Worcester was not alone uh here's a map from the Massachusetts Historical Society for uh few years later now you see all the towns you're
• 03:00 - 03:30 not going to be able to read the the names but look at how many of them they're everywhere this is a populated area uh even though it's Countryside it's populated as a matter of fact 95% of the population in Massachusetts at this time lives outside of Boston and everywhere in all these towns and farming communities when the court is going to meet the people swarm on the county seat the shy town and they close the court everywhere with Boston Boston with only 5% of the people that's the only Shire town that doesn't close the court because the British troops are are
• 03:30 - 04:00 there but everywhere else you know these people closed the court and they shed British rule now here's the key these people are not just protesting they're not just dumping tea into the harbor they are actually seizing control of governmental Authority this is the most successful and enduring popular Uprising in our nation's history now you'd think that our national narrative would would feature it I mean the first transfer of authority from the British to the americ Americans uh that's got to be a major
• 04:00 - 04:30 event I mean any Revolution isn't it an important chapter in any Revolution when actually you know uh Authority transfers from one side to the other but it's not featured in our national narrative it's not even mentioned go find it in your textbook you're not going to find it it's not there so here's the big question why not why don't we tell this story who decides what Stories We Tell and what stories we don't tell who's the gatekeeper here anyway
• 04:30 - 05:00 well we Americans collectively We Are The Gatekeepers for the past two centuries we've been trapping ourselves inside a narrow National narrative uh defined by just a handful of iconic themes and events you know taxation without representation the Boston Tea Party Boston Massacre we can recite them by heart but um but there was more to it than that the original historians the the people who wrote histories at the time who were actually lived through those times they told a larger story
• 05:00 - 05:30 they included this Massachusetts of revolution of 1774 but in the 19th century other stories emerged that whisked it away the shotard round the world you all hear that shotard round the world the Lexington and conquered well that that phrase was coined by Ralph Waldo Emerson the poet and essayist 60 years later and now think of it the if that's the iconic beginning of the Revolution how could there possibly been a revolution before the Revolution it just hides our story how about Paul R's ride
• 05:30 - 06:00 listen my children you shall hear the midnight ride of Paul Rivier that poem by ra by Henry wodsworth Longfellow 86 years after the fact on the eve of the Civil War and look at the basic theme a lone Rider from Boston wakes the sleepy-eyed farmers sleepy-eyed Farmers seven months earlier you know they had uh they had they had thrown off British rule and and uh and in the interim they had um you know they had
• 06:00 - 06:30 they had armed they had trained and they had uh formed a deao government and they had uh they were just preparing totally for a counterrevolution that they knew would follow that counterrevolution did eventually come at Lexington and conquered when the British were trying to retake territory that they had already lost so why don't we tell this story why don't we tell the story of the uh you know why do we why do we choose
• 06:30 - 07:00 the the rever stories the mythological ones instead of the vital and authentic ones why do we do that well for that we have to get a step deeper yet we have to actually look at the the the narrative structures of the narrative the structural forms of the narratives that we prefer and what these have to say about Revolution start with this we like our stories to have Heroes you know like uh Pro Hero does this and an individual individual protagonist and the U the
• 07:00 - 07:30 leaders and they they leaders do it all but listen you know the leader has to drive the story kind of like the movie we just saw but where's the leader here these people won't even accept leader they don't take a leader because they are totally Democratic they they won't do it and but which is more powerful a revolution with a leader telling people what to do or a revolution where the people are rising up and commanding their own commanding their own Revolution okay we luck our story with a clear plot line you know
• 07:30 - 08:00 the revolution starts here and and spreads to here and then climaxes here but where's the revolution where's the plot line in our story it's like erupting everywhere but which is a stronger Revolution the one that the one that has a nice tidy line or the one that erupts and it's just all over the place we like our stories with some blood and guts you know if it bleeds it leads well this one didn't bleed and it Why didn't it bleed because if you have 90% of the people on one
• 08:00 - 08:30 side as we did in this Revolution and only 10% on the other you're not going to find a lot of resistance but on the other hand if you had more like a 6040 split well then you'd have resistance you probably have some Bloodshed and then you'd tell the big story of the Revolution but that's not a strong Revolution that's more like a Civil War the real Revolution the overpowering revolution is where you have everybody joining in the 90% you know and that's that's a stronger story finally and here's a story we love to tell it's a feel-good story tiny little David the
• 08:30 - 09:00 Colonials the outnumbered outmanned outgun Colonials best Mighty Goliath the strongest British Empire the you know on the earth we love to tell that story but now look at Worcester how does that how do you tell that story in Worcester the 4,622 militi men these people are David and those those 20 Court officials huddling in the tavern or Goliath you see it just doesn't fit and if your story doesn't fit the narrative form it doesn't get told told right so let me
• 09:00 - 09:30 leave you with this beyond beyond the Massachusetts revolution of 1774 beyond the distortions to the nature of Revolution Beyond and and actually extending outwards to all our historical renderings The Way We Tell history beware beware of Pat narrative forms and reruns the same iconic stories because
• 09:30 - 10:00 these can hide more than they reveal