Every so often, but especially in August before school starts, I like to see some evidence of my private-school tuition dollars at work. So I recently asked my sons what provoked the first gunshots in the American Revolutionary War. “The Tea Act of 1773,” said the 12-year-old, apparently tossing out the first Colonial grievance that came to mind. “King George's Stamp Act!” screamed his younger brother, apparently mistaking our conversation for a televised game show with prizes. “You're both wrong,” I said. For many years, the American colonists’ disaffection was manifest as a strictly political and social movement, free of...