The Golden Goose: Why the United States Shouldn't Have Rebelled Against Britain

 A peasant and his wife had a goose that laid a golden egg every day. They thought that the goose had a huge lump of gold inside of her, so they killed the goose one day. However, the goose was just a normal goose inside, and they lost all their profit. Aesop's moral was this, "'Much wants more and loses all". If someone is greedy, it can lead to their demise.


I believe that Great Britain is the goose in this saying. She was very wealthy through trade and industry and planted the thirteen American colonies. The colonies weren't justified in throwing off the mother country because of economic, military, political, and religious regions.

Despite embargoes on tea, sugar, and wool, the colonies had no right to complain about paying too many taxes. They had to pay less tax than England proper or even India or Jamaica. At this time, Parliament was basically an oligarchy, and only a small percentage of the people voted on taxes. The colonies didn't have to pay income or property taxes, just a small duty on tea and luxury goods. This tax money actually went to the Exchequer (British treasury) to reimburse Parliament for money spent on troops in the French and Indian War which began in the colony of Pennsylvania. If anyone had a right to revolt, it was the poor of England who had to go to debtor prisons when they lost money to the government. Britain was also reasonable with taxes by repealing the Stamp Tax on paper products. A slightly inconvenient tea tax is no reason to completely secede from a country.

The US shouldn't have rebelled against Britain because she was gaining economic clout and was an asset to Britain. The number one market for American timber, manufactured goods, fish, cotton, and tobacco were the ports of England. New England provided timber for most of the ships of the Royal Navy. The US also had access to the British triangular trade in the West Indies where the islands made sugar and molasses into rum and traded it for slaves. As a colony, US could exclusively use this seemingly endless supply of labor to work the tobacco, rice, and cotton plantations of the South. By rebelling, the US would lose its biggest trade market and lose access to the slaves and sugar of the Indies and the fisheries of Newfoundland. They also had few immediate allies because American militia contributed to French defeat in the French and Indian War. Britain and US had a symbiotic relationship. The US got a tariff free market, wool, tea, slaves, sugar, and paper products from England. Britain got timber, fish, tobacco, cotton, and some manufactured goods. By rejecting this relationship, US lost its colony status and the ability to freely trade with England, Canada, and the Indies. They would have to find new allies, and even "independent" New England traded with enemy Britain in the War of 1812.

An American grievance toward England was the quartering of soldiers. The 1775 Quartering Act was a major cause of the Revolution. however, this was the common practice of armies in the 18th century. Because there were no barracks in the colonies, soldiers needed somewhere to eat, rest, and polish their weapons. The colonists' hospitality acted as a sort of payment for the colonial defense. During the American Revolution, French soldiers stayed in private homes in Virginia and Rhode Island and weren't hated. The thirteen colonies needed a military presence in case French fur traders incited the Indians to raid the frontier. The colonists needed the British regulars' protection. In the French and Indian War, militiamen couldn't defend the American frontier from Halifax to Savannah by themselves, leading to the fall of Louisbourg and Ft. Duquesne. British regulars led by James Wolfe conquered Quebec and claimed Canada for England. They effectively wiped France off the North American map and gave the thirteen colonies a huge buffer between them and Spanish Louisiana. A British army defeated a large Indian alliance led by Pontiac and  halted his raid before it affected the coastal colonies. Without the British regulars, the colonies would be vulnerable to Indian attacks or a Franco Spanish resurgence. There would be no professional soldiers to protect the frontier.

US could have also become an independent nation through peaceful means. The Whig Liberals in Parliaments wanted to increase democracy by allowing the US a seat in Parliament. The Americans also had assemblies, like the House of Burgesses in Virginia, which provided for some self government. Former British colonies like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have become first world nations without bloody revolts but through the gradual increase in home rule as Parliament became more liberal after the 1867 Reform Act. If US had followed the example of Canada, they would avoid things like the costly War of 1812 and possible wars with Napoleon. The US could have been less imperialistic (E.g. Manifest Destiny) and more assistive, helping Britain, Canada, and Australia with their struggles.           

Finally, Romans 13:1 forbids rebellion against government. God institutes rulers for protection and to be obeyed. Rules can be disobeyed if they force one to sin. Paying a tea tax and hosting soldiers in one's home is not sinful. Jesus told the Pharisees to pay taxes and his disciples to love their neighbors. When St. Peter writes about submitting to government (1 Peter 2:13), he was a subject of Nero, an insane autocrat, who killed his mother Agrippina and may have burned Rome. Britain had begun to give the US some home rule and was not an absolute monarchy. In addition to political and economic reasons, the US shouldn't have rebelled because it was unbiblical.