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The colonists declared their independence from Britain on July 4th, 1776.

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"He who pelts another with pebbles asks for stones in return" means that if you do something unjust to someone, then you have to expect that something even worse is going to happen to you. In other words, this proverb is talking about karma. Metaphorically, the pebbles, although very small, represent the first unjust action that one performs and the stones are what that person receives in return for doing that. The stones are also supposed to be more damaging or hurtful than what the person did to another to deserve that (the pebbles). When Britain controlled the colonies, they were very harsh towards the colonists and taxed them greatly. So, since they treated the colonists so badly, the colonies declared their independence against Britain, and should have expected this because of what they did to them. In comparison, this proverb could also be viewed in a positive way. For example, if you work very hard at something throughout a period of time, you will be rewarded. In this case, working hard at something would be the pebbles, and the reward would be the stones.A recent 60 Minutes episode about Ryan Speedo Green, now an Metropolitan Opera House singer, starring in La Boheme, describes how much poverty he lived in and all the abuse that he received from his parents as a child. Despite all of this, though, Green realized how he wanted to be on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, and worked extremely hard to try to achieve this goal, and is now an opera singer at the Met and one of the best in the world.