Seeds of the American Revolution - Part 3 Taxation Vexation & Sons of Liberty

by Elva Cobb Martin

More Taxation without Representation

Britain continued to pass more taxes on the colonies: The Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money, the Sugar Act imposing duties on a number of articles, including lumber, and then the Stamp Act which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets were required to have "stamps"--even a deck of playing cards.


But then a special group of patriots arose! The Sons of Liberty. In this picture from the History Channel/Netflix series on this patriotic group you see Sam Adams center, Paul Revere to his right and, John Hancock and John Adams to his left. George Washington does appear and blesses this group's efforts.

The Sons of Liberty was a secret organization that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies, particularly Boston, to advance the rights of the European colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765. The group officially disbanded after the Stamp Act was repealed. However, the name was applied to other local separatist groups during the years preceding the American Revolution.

The Sons of Liberty used public demonstrations, boycotts, violence and threats of violence to ensure that British tax laws were unenforceable. They included most of the famous names we remember in our early history.

In Boston, where this group got its start, led primarily by Sam Adams, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court (which oversaw the collecting of taxes) and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson.

Several legislatures called for united action.  In October 1765 delegates to the Stamp Act Congress held in NYC drew up a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists boycotted British imports.

You can clearly see where all this was heading!

Here's a link to the Sons of Liberty promo from the History Channel series:
https://binged.it/2ZjaEF4  I just watched its entirety on Netflix. Bloody, as any birthing is, it's also very inspiring and further convinced me of how God had to be in on this thing helping the patriots against the great British war machine or we'd never have become a free nation.

Another great series about the birth of our nation is Turn, also on Netflix. It deals more with Washington's spies and we see a lot of George Washington.

I love to view these type series again near July 4th, just so I don't forget the great battle the patriots fought for our nation to be born. Invite your older children to see these series and leave the right legacy when so much of our history is being ignored or rewritten.

Thank you for stopping by! Please share by clicking on the social media icons below.

Blessings,
Elva

Elva Cobb Martin is Vice President of the SC Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin  
 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI 

Novel In Progress - Vocabulary List Barbary Pirates - Part 1

by Elva Cobb Martin

 The Barbary States

In my wip, an historical series set in  Charles Town in the 1700's and during the Barbary pirate era, I've been creating a vocabulary list for my readers. The plan is to add this at the back of the book(s) as an appendix. 

It also helps me remember the unusual spellings. 

Here is part of my list. Does it help open up this time period of sailing ships and pirates, especially Islamic Barbary pirates my Charles Town hero and heroine will confront?

1) Corsair: (from dictionary of Nautical history)

  ➤ a pirate, especially one based on the North African coast between the 16th and 19th centuries. Some were even from an English, French or Italian background who left or had to leave their countries for various reasons or crimes.

 ➤ a privately owned ship commissioned by a government to attack foreign ships, especially one based on the coast of North Africa.

2) tricorn

 A hat with its brim turned up on three sides, making three points, worn by men in the 18th century

3) draught of a ship:

the draft or draught of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull, with the thickness of the hull included. Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate.

4) scimitar (sym’muh tar)

 A short sword with a curved blade that broadens towards the point, used originally in Eastern countries. A saber having a curved blade with the edge on the convex side and used chiefly by Arabs and Turks, and Barbary pirates.

5) rak’ah

A rakʿah, consists of the prescribed movements and words followed by Muslims while offering prayers to Allah. It also refers to a single unit of Islamic prayers.

6) Tripolitan War, (1801–05),

Conflict between the United States and Tripoli (now in Libya), incited by American refusal (President Thomas Jefferson) to continue payment of tribute to the piratical rulers of the North African Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Tripoli.

Hope this has begun to open up the world of Barbary pirates to you that Thomas Jefferson, our newborn Navy and Marines defeated in America's first war on terror!

Happy Mothers' Day to you mothers,
Elva Martin

Elva Cobb Martin is vice-president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin 
 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI

Barbary Pirates - Part 2: How Jefferson Dealt with Muslim Terrorists & Wisdom for Today

by Elva Cobb Martin

In Part 1 we shared how Muslim Barbary pirates terrorized ships sailing in the Mediterranean and large parts of the North Atlantic at the height of the eighteenth century. They attacked vessels of any nation, including America, and took whole crews into barbaric slavery, and demanded exorbitant ransom for anyone to be released. 

The Islamic nations of Tripoli (Libya), Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers--collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast--presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to our new nation of America.

In 1784 the United States followed in the footsteps of European nations and began paying bribes to to the Barbary pirates not to attack American ships. For the next fifteen years our American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Jefferson was disgusted that America was paying ransom to Muslim pirates!  Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming. That changed everything.

Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand. The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States.

Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit. Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thuggery for long enough, decided that it was finally time to meet force with force.

He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim nations of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget.  Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. ships to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to “cause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justify”. And to free all Christian captives.

When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and the might to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to

Tripoli.

The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815.  The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn. 

The Marines would forever be known as “leathernecks” for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.

This is the forgotten war that changed American history. When Jefferson sent the new U.S. Navy and Marines to blockade Tripoli, launching the Barbary Wars, he actually began our journey toward future superpower status. And American ships were no longer attacked by the Barbary pirates.

Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified doing in the name of their prophet god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply.  America had a tradition of religious tolerance. Jefferson, himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen.  

A religion based on supremacism, whose holy book mandated violence against unbelievers was unacceptable to him.  His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States. 

HAS THAT DAY ARRIVED?

This should concern every American: That the Muslims have brought about women-only classes and swimming times at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged; Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist sensibilities.  Ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looks similar to the Arabic script for Allah, some public schools are  pulling  pork from their menus, and on it goes.

Did you know we now have two Muslim women, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, elected to Congress, one a Democrat from Minnesota and the other a Democrat from Michigan? Guess what book they laid their hand on when sworn in? The Quran.  And they attack President Trump every chance they get.

Someone has said: "It’s death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America.  By not fighting back, by allowing groups to confuse what is really happening, and not insisting that the Muslims adapt to our own culture, the United States is cutting its own throat with a politically correct knife, and helping to further the Muslim agenda to make every knee and our nation bow to Allah.Sadly, it appears that many in today’s America would rather be politically correct than victorious."

Clear evidence exists in America of a “civilization” jihad in which radical Islam infiltrates our culture as "friends,"  hollow out the underpinnings of American civilization, its institutions and the U.S. Constitution, and replaces these with the darkness of Sharia law (the law that governs Islam). For more on this check out this video by two of our national security experts: https://binged.it/2TL3GK0 

Check out this eye-opening interview during the last administration of a converted Muslim who was sent to America to do "civilization" jihad and now warns of the inroads happening in America. He also says in the interview how he knew former President Obama was a Muslim. 

http://bit.ly/2O6LTaV

Janet Levy, a prolific writer on Islam and national security, says: "Our uniquely American virtues of tolerance and freedom have worked against us to produce intolerance and oppression. This has led to the stealthy introduction of Shariah Law and a climate in which criticisms of Mohammed and Islam are no longer possible without serious repercussions."

Get informed and and share the truth about this battle with others. And join me in prayer for America's great spiritual awakening, our protection from all who would like to destroy us, and for President Trump's wisdom in dealing with all enemies. Nothing is impossible with our God as we pray and line our lives up with His Word.

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to share this information and would love to have your comments.

Blessings,
Elva

Elva Cobb Martin is vice-president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin    

 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI

Barbary Pirates -Islam's Arm of Mayhem 1800 Part 1: Americans Enslaved, Held for Ransom

by Elva Cobb Martin --I happily give credit to articles by William Federer
 https://www.themaven.net/americanminute/

Barbary Pirate Coast 

For my wip, an historical romance, Georgia Ann, set in Charles Town and on the Barbary Coast in the 1700's, I did a lot of research. Below are some compelling facts that shed light today for wise dealing with Islamic terrorists and "harmless" immigrating Muslims wanting to come to America but still give allegiance to their Koran's command to make every nation bow to Allah or be annihilated. Their Koran has not changed.

Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!

At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic. They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms.  Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment, sold as slaves, and wrote heart breaking letters home, begging their government and family members to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.

These extortionists of the high seas represented the Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers – collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast –and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.

Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain. When the U.S. declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France. However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets. Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy.

Beginning in 1784, seventeen years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became America’s Minister to France.  That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States, rather than engaging them in war.

In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships,

and the Dey of Algiers demanded an unheard-of ransom of $60,000. 

 It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments.  Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace.  A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.

The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."

(Did you get that? This is the same Quran/Koran all faithful Muslims  follow today.)

Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Thomas Jefferson was disgusted. 

Don't miss my Part 2 blog to see what happened NEXT.

Thanks for stopping by. Would love to hear your comments and hope you'll share on your social media by clicking on the icons below. 

Blessings,

Elva Martin

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin    

 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI

What Type of Violent Offender is Your Villain? - Guest blog

What Type of Violent Offender Is Your Villain?

By Guest Blogger Bonnie Randall on www.fiction-University.com  Feb. 26

Part of the How They Do It Series (Contributing Author)

Within my work with Violent Threat Risk Assessment, I share characteristics of the four most dominant violent offenders; what motivates them, what personality traits each has, their inherent goals, and how they are most likely to react if / when they are caught.

The four types of offenders are easily identifiable in fiction, film, and real life once you know what you are looking for. And, in turn, villains are much easier to create when you have the recipe of characteristics that create the perfect storm that forms The Violent Offender.

So, without further ado, let’s examine the four types of violent offenders, starting with:

1. The Traditional, Predominantly Cognitive Violent Individual

First and most important trait to note: this character is not emotional. A thinker, a plotter, and a schemer, this person will have excellent control over his feelings during a violent episode—there will be no squeamishness, and he will be highly unmoved by his victims cries for help. In fact, if there is any remorse to be felt, it will be only because he wished he would not have had to embark on the ‘extra’ work of hurting or killing someone to get what he wanted; he will know that business would have been much more expedient without the need to now dispose of this pesky dead body. But…what can one do? Sometimes a cumbersome crime scene to clean is the cost of doing business.

Make readers an offer they can't refuse.

The Predominantly Cognitive Offender does not necessarily enjoy violence, and violence in and of itself will not be their goal. Acquiring the sack of rubies will be the end game. Or the brick of cocaine. Perhaps the priceless painting. Violence for the sake of violence is actually a waste of their energy, and beneath their sophistication. Yet, if killing someone is the only way to get the real job done, then…whaddaya do?

The Predominantly Cognitive Offender is most definitely on the sociopathic spectrum; he is a cold fish with little ability and no desire to attach. He will not want to get caught, and in fact will be as slippery as minnows in your swimsuit when it comes to being nailed; unencumbered by any anxiety that might trip a normal person up, this offender will instead be able to lie smoothly, glibly, and there is a high chance he could even easily beat a polygraph. He can and will delay acts of violence if it means a greater likelihood of attaining what he wants and / or lowering the risk of getting caught. He has patience in spades and will execute his end-game expediently and emotionlessly.

(Here's more on developing villains)

Examples of this type of offender include Mario Puzo’s Godfather, and (at his most profound development) Breaking Bad’s Walter White. El Chapo is another stellar example of a Predominantly Cognitive Offender. For these types, it truly is…

All business, baby.

2. The Traditional, Predominantly Behavioral Type:

Create your dream bad guy.

Like the aforementioned Cognitive Offender, this type is also highly unemotional, and she too falls upon the sociopathic spectrum. The difference here is motive. Where our other offender uses violence as a means to an end, this offender gets off on the act of violence. Governed by appetites instead of emotion, and certainly highly sadistic, this psychopath is into the thrill of the kill. Think Voldemort employing the Cruciatus Curse while wearing a pleased smile. Or Freddy Krueger building his ‘special’ glove. Ted Bundy, too, was a Behavioral Type Offender; it was the sex/killing that got him off—in fact, he never stole a single valuable from any of his victims, despite being in some of their houses.

Like the first Type, these offenders too are difficult to catch because, while having no emotions of their own to muddy the water, they have become excellent at exuding the charm and glib charisma that often seduces other people into liking them (and believing their lies). These offenders are 100% morally bankrupt, and if they are ever caught, they will never admit their crimes—and will blame anyone and everything for “how they are”.

(Here's more on six steps to creating a great villain)

3. The Mixed Type Offender

Keep your villains from being dull boys.

If our first two types are always in their heads and never their hearts, then this type is the opposite. Mixed Types are HIGHLY emotional. Hotheads who are easily offended and have hair-trigger tempers, these guys are caught easily because they are so incredibly impulsive and wear their emotions (and motives) all over their face. The littlest things can and do set them off; Mixed Types are always at risk of losing their proverbial sh*t because they feel huge emotions about everything.

Simultaneously, they will feel highly justified when they lash out and hurt someone (as opposed to our first two types who, despite being sociopathic and psychopathic respectively, are fully aware, and even agree, that violence is wrong). A Mixed Type will be indignant and resentful if caught and punished—because from their warped point of view, they have been wronged…and so whoever they’ve hurt had it coming. Often odious or at the very least uncomfortable to be around, good examples of a Mixed Type can be found in many Stephen King novels, most notably Jack Torrance in The Shiningand Annie Wilkes in Misery.

(Here's more on 10 traits of a great antagonist)

4. The Non Traditional Type

Some "villains" we actually want to root for.

Out of all the violent offenders, the non-traditional type is by far the most tragic. For while attachment disorder and emotional neglect built our first two offenders, and Borderline Personality is likely at play in our Mixed Type, the Non-Traditional is not someone mentally unhinged or disordered. Instead, the Non-Trad is someone who has either been deeply wounded or horrifically abused…and has coped as best as he/she could until their coping ability ran dry. Now violence is their only option.

(Here's more on creating relatable antagonists)

Think Carl Lee who kills his daughter’s rapists in John Grisham’s A Time To Kill. Or Carrie White who burns the school down after her last humiliation at the prom in Carrie. These offenders are emotional like the Mixed Types, yet the difference is that while Mixeds are violent often, Non-Trads will usually only ever be violent once in their lifetime. A further distinction is this: A Mixed, if they do feel remorse after committing a crime, will say “I can’t believe I did that” while a Non-Trad will say “I can’t believe I did that to them.” See the shift in empathy? Subtle, but powerful.

Okay! There’s a quick snapshot of each offender. Questions? Comments? Fire away, and make your villains authentically villainy!

Bonnie Randall is a Canadian writer who lives between her two favorite places—the Jasper Rocky Mountains and the City of Champions: Edmonton, Alberta. A clinical counselor who scribbles fiction in notebooks whenever her day job allows, Bonnie is fascinated by the relationships people develop—or covet—with both the known and unknown, the romantic and the arcane.

Her novel Divinity & The Python, a paranormal romantic thriller, was inspired by a cold day in Edmonton when the exhaust rising in the downtown core appeared to be the buildings, releasing their souls.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciated the great info in the above guest blog. It's a good keeper with all the extra links printed out for a great file on "Villains." Hope you liked it. Would love to hear your  "villain" comments.

Blessings,
Elva Martin

Elva Cobb Martin is vice-president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin    

 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon:http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI