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In God We Don't Trust  /  Chapter 19: The Colonists Change Their Tune  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 2
The chapter quotes multiple colonial charters (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, the Carolinas, Virginia, Massachusetts) showing broad royal authority to collect “duties, customs, and subsidies”; how does Bercot’s use of those primary sources challenge the way you were taught to frame the Revolution, and what does it suggest about the Christian duty to be honest with facts—even when facts undermine a preferred story?
Another way to ask: How do the colonial charters Bercot quotes (about the king collecting duties and customs) challenge the way you learned the Revolution story? What does this say about a Christian’s duty to face facts even when they hurt a favorite story?

Direct Answer Bercot’s charter quotations challenge the popular framing that Parliament had no legitimate authority to levy such duties; he argues the authority was explicitly reserved in the founding documents. The transcript suggests Christians should be committed to truth-telling with primary evidence, even when it weakens a cherished national story.

Support from Transcript:

  • He cites charter language repeatedly: e.g., Rhode Island required “yielding and paying…such duties, customs, and subsidies.”
  • Connecticut: imports/exports allowed but “not to be discharged of payment…of the duties, customs, and subsidies.”
  • Maryland: “saving unto us…impositions, subsidies, customs, and other dues payable.”
  • Carolinas: settlers may trade “so as they pay such customs, subsidies, and other duties.”
  • Virginia and Massachusetts: only “seven years…reprieve from tariffs and duties,” implying duties were expected afterward.
  • His conclusion: “In none of the colonial charters did the king place any limit on the purpose of those tariffs and duties.”
Discussion Follow-ups What stories have you accepted because they were repeated in school or politics, without examining original sources? How might honesty with facts be part of Christian integrity, even when it costs us social approval?

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