Who is Dathan Tyler Cade?
I am Dathan Tyler Cade: Voluntaryist, Anarchist, Agorist, Freestater, and Eleutherian. I live in the town of Grafton in the Free State of New Hampshire.
You can call me a “silent partner” in the growing liberty movement in Grafton.
The name.
Dathan Tyler Cade is a name I took for myself in 2006 to replace the name by which the State had previously called me. It exists in no government records, appears on no birth certificates, and has no federal tracking numbers associated with it.
The name comes from three historical figures.
Wat Tyler was the leader of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 in England. Spurred by a crushing poll tax imposed by King Richard II in order to finance foreign wars, the peasants rose up in armed rebellion. They organized behind Wat Tyler and on June 14 of that year stormed London to present Richard with their demands—most importantly the abolition of serfdom itself. The following day, while attempting to again meet with the King to continue negotiations, Wat Tyler was double-crossed by the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth, who struck him with a dagger and mortally wounded him. Tyler died later the same day and the King subsequently crushed the rebellion.
Jack Cade lead a similar peasant revolt against King Henry VI in 1450. Leading an army of five thousand peasants, on July 3 they stormed and looted London, causing Henry to flee. The rebels were defeated in a battle at London Bridge. Archbishop and Lord Chancellor John Kemp persuaded Cade to end the rebellion, using the promise of pardons and reforms; however, the King betrayed the agreement citing legal technicalities, placed a price on Cade’s head, and executed many of Cade’s compatriots over the ensuing months. Cade was ultimately killed by Alexander Iden, who went on to become High Sheriff of Kent.
Dathan is a figure who appears in Numbers 16 in the Old Testament. Along with Korah and Abiram, he lead a revolt of 250 Israelite community leaders against Moses and Aaron. In Numbers 16:3, in response to Moses appointing himself ruler and his own brother head priest, Dathan uttered these words: “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” (NIV). In response, the Israelite god killed the three leaders of the rebellion—along with their families, wives, and children. After more of the people rose up in revolt, Yahweh sent a plague that killed 14,700. Dathan is therefore one of the first human beings in recorded history to lead a rebellion against a priestly ruling class.