On Dec. 16, 1773, colonists in Massachusetts tossed 432 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest what they saw as an unfair tax. That act helped precipitate the American Revolution.
Today Americans who say they are fed up with increased taxes, big government and infringement on personal rights have taken up the mantle of the Boston Tea Party to stage their own symbolic protests across the country.
Local organizers are inviting Lancaster County taxpayers to gather at 4 p.m. April 15 in Musser Park to voice their gripes during a Taxed Enough Already Party. They encourage participants to bring tea bags to serve as emblems of their grievances with government.
Teresa Casalino, a Manheim Township resident and a co-organizer of the rally, said the complaints aired at similar events cover many subjects but can be placed together under the umbrella term "personal freedom."
"It's against big government and big spending and our drifting away from the Constitution," Casalino said.
The tea party movement has its origins among conservative bloggers, political commentators such as Glenn Beck and others concerned with constitutional issues. It was ramped into high gear by objections to the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Facebook pages on the concept of creating regional protest groups can be found on the Web, and hundreds of events across the country have been scheduled for April 15, the day tax returns are due. At least 17 events are planned in Pennsylvania.
Lancaster's event will feature eight local speakers, who will discuss personal liberty and constitutional issues.
State Rep. Sam Rohrer, a Republican from Berks County, will talk about his 10th Amendment resolution — HR 95 — meant to reaffirm Pennsylvania's right to self-determination on matters not specifically defined in the U.S. Constitution.
Bill Reil, a constitutional scholar and a member of the Pennsylvania Independent Consumers & Farmers Association, will discuss how constitutional law offers solutions to government's problems.
Jim Compton, Pennsylvania coordinator for the National Veterans Committee on Constitutional Affairs, will discuss the REAL ID Act of 2005 and its implications for the security of personal information. The REAL ID Act is a federal law that set standards for the issuance of official identification documents.
Compton, a retired Naval officer living in Boiling Springs, said he has been working in Harrisburg for more than two years to get legislators to listen to objections to the REAL ID Act. Among changes he said he'd like to see are limits placed on the amount of biometric data contained in the IDs and better guarantees of a citizen's privacy.
"I don't get paid to do the stuff that I've been doing," Compton said. "I do it because I've got two little grandkids, and I don't want them to live in a police state, and that's where I'm afraid we're headed."
Attendees at the rally are asked to bring sealed tea items for donation to Milagro House, a local organization that provides services for homeless women and children.
Lancaster resident Lisa Armellino, a co-organizer of the rally, said she initially got involved in what she termed "freedom issues" in September 2007 while following U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's campaign for president.
Armellino said she has focused on economics of the Federal Reserve System and fractional-reserve banking, by which banks keep a small percentage of their money on hand and lend out the rest while still maintaining the obligation of redeeming all of it.
Another concern Armellino has is a food modernization bill introduced by Connecticut congresswoman Rosa DeLauro that would call for the creation of a national system for registering food establishments and a system that would enable the tracking of food through every stage of production.
Armellino fears the legislation would give too much power to large multinational corporations and take away the ability of small local farmers to provide affordable products.
"Most of the population is fairly uninformed as to freedom issues, and they don't understand why people like myself are passionate about them," Armellino said.
E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com