As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard ‘round the world”, it bears notice that the American Revolution would not have been possible without an awakening among the people of the colonies who lived in those tumultuous times. They were largely “ordinary” folks. Most were born and bred to love “King and Country.” They took great pride in being part of the British Empire. Town Meetings in Old Dartmouth opened in the name of His Majesty. It took great courage for such loyal subjects to question their ties with — let alone take up arms against — the most awesome nation on earth led by a fickle monarch with unrestrained power to force his subjects to do the King’s bidding.

Their experience was less an epiphany than a gradual enlightenment that slowly crept into the consciousness of the populace until they concluded that, no matter how uncomfortable and terrifying it was to do so, the pressing reality of the times demanded a reset of their unconditional trust of “King and Country” in the interest of the greater good.

The Dartmouth Town Meeting of July 18, 1774 reluctantly agreed that to boycott goods from Great Britain and Ireland “appears unfriendly to our manufacturing brethren and friends in Great Britain and Ireland” [but] ... to save both them and us from Bondage and Slavery ... we judge the ... unconstitutional Acts of the British Parliament has a tendency to destroy the harmony which has subsisted among all British subjects and to entirely abolish the English constitution and form of Government  ...”

Local Quakers were torn between their religious beliefs and their devotion to freedom and democracy. Quaker Meeting records recorded a number of men who enlisted to serve, act as privateers or just give aid to the military. They were reluctantly threatened with disownment, the first being Benjamin Howland III in January 1776. He ultimately apologized and returned to the Meeting. Also, during this period, some Quakers began to demand that members free any slaves they owned — an effort that proved successful and consistent with democracy and freedom.

Acoaxet, later Westport, contributed many soldiers to the militia who were mustered to meet potential conflicts and fought in battles. Two Westport Harbor residents, Lt. Jonathan Brownell and his son Major Sylvester Brownell, fought at Bunker Hill. Jonathan was killed. Captain William Hicks served in 7th Company of Second Bristol, at the Siege of Boston, the New York campaign and the Battle of Trenton. Many Westport men were in his Company. Abner Brownell lived on Adamsville Road. When he learned that battles had begun in Lexington and Concord, like Paul Revere, he rode through Acoaxet lining up minutemen who marched north to join in the battles. And there were many more.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the historian Page Smith published the first volume of a seven-volume treatise entitled “A Peoples History of the United States.” In his opening work, he remarked on the “happy coincidence between [that anniversary] ... and our need to review thoughtfully the events that led to the birth of our nation.”

“[T]he history of our Revolutionary origins ... is the only common resource upon which we can and must all draw if we are to heal the divisions of our nation and have a reasonable prospect of creating a humane future, not only for Americans, but for all the people who inhabit this greatly diminished globe.”

A half-century later, this counsel resonates with even greater force. We now live in another time of great turbulence and uncertainty about the future of some of our most cherished traditions and institutions. The Westport Democratic Town Committee is proud to have a float in the July 4th parade designed to remind us of the lead up to the Revolutionary War. Let us honor the integrity, courage and sacrifices of our Revolutionary heroes by taking stock of our own duty as today’s guardians of the noble experiment they began and act as they would act were they here today. Together we can preserve a hope for the future of democracy and freedom in the United States that has served us so well over the past 250 years.

Cayton is chairman of the Westport Democratic Town Committee.