Two hundred fifty years ago tomorrow, on Nov. 7, 1775, Virginians found themselves under martial law.
His Excellency Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, by then attempting to govern from a ship (having fled Williamsburg), was trying to stop the revolution just gaining traction across the English colonies. You can read his declaration below for yourself. Having proclaimed martial law, he gave Virginians a choice: take up arms for the King, or be declared traitors.
The Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia nine months later, explaining the reasons for a new country, contains the phrases, “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”
Dunmore apparently reasoned that if he could not gain the consent of the governed, he would impose the iron fist of military discipline upon them.
The declaration of martial law did nothing to stop th...