"I gave my parole once, and it has been shamefully violated by the British Government; I shall not give another to people on whom no faith can be reposed."

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The British government had not engaged in any serious actual oppression of the colonies before 1774, but it had claimed powers not granted by the governed, powers that made oppression possible, powers that it began to exercise in 1774 in response to colonial denial of them. The Revolution came about not to overthrow tyranny, but to prevent it.

— Edmund Morgan