Look into the declaration of independence in 1776. Look into the writings of Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. These will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. The U.S. used the sinking as an excuse to start the Spanish American war, in which the US acquired an empire.