Two Weeks On The Road - “Marched Through Belcher”
In September of 1774, as towns across Massachusetts reacted to laws passed by Parliament to punish the colony for its resistance to British rule, the residents of Belchertown, Massachusetts, approved a statement which read: "We declare that we will take no unreasonable liberties or advantage from the suspension of the course of law, but we agree to conduct ourselves agreeably to the laws of God, of reason, of humanity; and we hereby engage to use all prudent and justifiable and necessary measures to secure and defend each others persons and families, their lives, rights and properties, against all who shall attempt to hurt, injure, or invade them, and to secure and defend ourselves and our posterity our just and constitutional rights and privileges." [1] Seven months later, when fighting began at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 , the "necessary measures" they pledged to take would for the most part involve sending men and materials out of tow...