The recent commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord begins the celebration of the nation’s Semiquincentennial. At first glance, the struggle of eighteenth-century America may seem unrelated to the issues we face today and for many, the American Revolution can seem like a distant event, completely removed from the modern American, and therefore easy to ignore. This is a mistake: the American Revolution should not be treated like a relic or merely a holiday to be celebrated. It is an ongoing experiment, and the people of Amherst and of the United States today are as much a part of it as the early patriots of 1776.

In the 1770s, the town of Amherst was a microcosm of the American Revolution, teeming with patriotic fervour while also tormented by division. The young town played an active part in the Revolution. From Bunker Hill to Saratoga, the young men of the town fought for independence. As tensions were rising with Britain, Amherst native Reuben Dickinson, who had served in the French and Indian War (1754-63), called on the people to arm themselves at a convention in 1774. When the Lexington Alarm was sounded, Dickinson led a company of 26 “minutemen” to Cambridge in April 1775. Dickinson’s company would balloon up to 60 men by June 1775, just in time for them to take part in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Dickinson would continue to serve through the war, fighting in the battles of Bemis Heights and Saratoga. Another Amherst native, Ebenezer Mattoon Jr, would also distinguish himself during the war. He led the transfer of cannons from Springfield to New York to bolster General Gates' army. Mattoon’s endeavor bore fruit at the battle of Saratoga, and Mattoon himself built a distinguished career as a soldier rising to the rank of major during the Revolution. Mattoon would go on to live an accomplished life, serving as a Massachusetts state representative for nearly two decades and being elected to the House of Representatives as a Federalist in 1801.

On the opposing side, the Loyalists of Amherst, who made up an estimated half the town,  did not view themselves as blind servants to the British Crown. They, like their fellow Amherst Patriots, cherished liberty and their rights. But their views concerning the relationship between freedom and power were different. Among the Loyalists were Reverend David Parsons, Isaiah Chauncey, the Boltwood family and Simeon and Nehemiah Strong, whose house was the headquarters for the Loyalists and still stands today, the headquarters of the Amherst Historical Society. The Loyalists were hounded by Amherst’s Committee of Safety, and placed under guarded house arrest for being “Suspected Enemies of America.”

So what compelled the early colonists of Amherst and beyond to take such measures and rebel? The reasons are countless and varied, but for many Patriots it was out of principle. The colonists saw themselves as British citizens and expected the full set of rights they felt Britain’s unwritten constitution owed them. This constitution, a system and  “combination of powers” that worked for “the good of the whole community,” as John Adams described it, was threatened by the encroaching power of the British Parliament and the Crown. The colonists were not afforded the same rights as the citizens of the mother country.  They did not have their own representatives in the British Parliament and their judges did not have life tenure. The colonists were completely dependent on the arbitrary power of England. While Tories and Loyalists alike argued that the colonies were virtually represented by Parliament, Patriots were not convinced.

Freedom, for the early Patriots, meant self government. They were suspicious of the powers of the King and Parliament, not because of their abuse, but because those powers existed.  Representation was an essential component of this. A representative had to live among and have the consent of their constituents; the Colonies could not, as Britain insisted, be virtually represented in Parliament. That power, for American colonists, was arbitrary in nature and would inevitably encroach upon their liberty.

Today, this sentiment, that for power to be legitimate, it must answer to the people, seems to have been lost on many Americans as they’ve grown increasingly disillusioned by the state of the country and the world. Less than two thirds of eligible voters voted in the 2024 general elections; the 2022 midterms were even worse, with less than half of the eligible population voting. Many Americans have disengaged from politics, leaving a void that has been filled by corporate and partisan interest. But democracy was never supposed to be easy, nor is it a fixed state of government. Democracy is an act, an ongoing process that needs to be consistently practiced. That is the American experiment.

Justin Taylor is a member of the board of trustees of the Amherst Historical Society.