Dear William,
I hope you are well in these times of turmoil. I am sorry to hear that year business is not going well. It is just another reason for us to end this war and separate from Britain. I do not understand why you are so afraid of becoming free and ruling ourselves. We do not need Britain to sustain us. All they have done is violate our rights and force us to start this horrible war.
Jacob left to go help our brothers quite a while ago and I miss him terribly. I get letters from him occasionally. He is doing well. I have had to take over all of the duties on the farm here, which has not become uncommon around here. The other women near often come together and we discuss matters as if we were in congress or parliament.
You are not the only one who is still fooled by His Majesty’s illusions. There are many others here who believe that letting them take our rights is equal to the so called “protection” they give us. Well who is going to protect us from them? The British make all these promises and give us supposed “rights”, but then they tax us without representation and do not give us the rights that our ancestors were given. Only part of the problem is the tax itself. It's the principle, the fact that they taxed us without our own representation. They did not have the right to do that. They have too much power over us and do not care about our rights.
I fear for myself with my husband gone. The soldiers just barge into the house and demand food and lodging without any kind words. I know we need to be independent from Britain and that it is the best thing for us. I just can’t believe that you would believe that anyone that uses their authority that way would benefit us. You say that we are a valuable part of England, and yet England does not consider us valuable enough to not impose upon those rights and freedoms they gave us initially.
I know you believe that our resistance is worthless and we are only wasting our time trying to fight the most powerful nation in the world. But these are our rights, our freedom that we must claim for our own. We should be able to make our own laws and tax ourselves. And that money should go to us. They may give us some freedoms but they take away many more and those freedoms are not guaranteed. Yes, we have lots of new, free land, but we do not need Britain to tell us what we can take for our own. That is simply opportunity, not freedom. I really wish you could understand this, brother. I know you want to remain loyal to the king but I strongly urge you to change your mind.
Well I wish for this letter finds you well. I am very concerned for you and pray for you everyday. Let me know if you ever need a favor. I will try and do all that I can for you. I hope that your business keeps you well sustained until we have our freedom. Then I promise you that you will prosper like never before. I speak the truth and I hope you will see that. I will write often.
Your dearest sister,
Elizabeth Bailey
Sources:
1)The American Promise text book
2)Paris Peace Treaty of 1783 (http://moe.ic.highline.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=a9h&AN=21212324&site=ehost-live&scope=site)
3)Is Patriotism A Mistake? (http://moe.ic.highline.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=a9h&AN=4012279&site=ehost-live&scope=site)
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