The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘insurrection’ as the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government.  

The word is frequently in the news these days in connection with ‘protests’ in Washington in January of 2022.  Protest is not considered ‘insurrection’. Protests are rampant in the United States and in many instances, they unfortunately include violence committed against police or civil authority – in many cases by individuals who are not even citizens of the United States. Yet these are still considered ‘protests’ even with public highways and bridges blocked for hours and police assaulted.   

Defenders of individuals prosecuted in Washington D.C. have suggested that a more accurate example of ‘insurrection’ would be the founding of the United States where a percentage of the colonies revolted against the established civil and political authority of Britian. The revolution resulted in an estimated 25,000 casualties on the British side.   Between 25,000 and 70,000 American ‘Patriots’ died during active military service.  That level of violence certainly seems to justify the term ‘insurrection’.