From Slave To Patriot~They Gave Their Lives So YOU Could Be Free
As we remember our brothers and sisters who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so we can have Liberty, let us also remember those that history denies their due glory. How many know that the first man to die in the Revolutionary War was a black man named Crispus Attucks? Crispus Attucks was freed slave who had become a whaler for the merchant marines. Here is a poem written about Attucks by John Boyle O’Riley:
Honor to Crispus Attucks, who was leader and voice that day;
The first to defy, and the first to die, with Maverick, Carr, and Gray;
Call it riot or revolution, his hand first clenched at the crown;
His feet were the first in perilous place to pull the King’s flag down;
His breast was the first one rent apart that liberty’s stream might flow;
For our freedom now and forever, his head was first laid low.
Call it riot or revolution, or mob or crowd, as you may,
Such deaths have been seed of nations, such lives shall be honored for aye.
What about Ned Hector, who was a freed slave and fought in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown? When his military unit was being defeated and the order to retreat was given, he refused to retreat. He said, “The enemy shall have not my team. I will save the horses or perish myself!”
History is full of brave men such as these. Many slaves were made freemen because they wanted to fight for liberty. One such man was Peter Salem. Salem fought at the battle of Bunker Hill where he is remembered for shooting and killing British Major John Pitcairn. Many believe if it had not been for Peter Salem, Pitcairn’s troops would have won that battle. Because of his bravery, Salem was honored and introduced to General George Washington as a great hero for liberty.
As a matter of fact, there were battalions of freed slaves who fought for OUR liberty in the Revolutionary War. George Middleton was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War and led the Bucks of America, a battalion of freed slaves dedicated to the cause of liberty. Even after the war, Middleton would continue to fight through the organization he founded in 1796 called, the African Benevolent Society. This organization provided aid to widows and orphans of the Revolutionary War.
Who better to stand for Liberty than men who had been slaves and knew the value of Liberty? They believed so greatly that all men deserved to be free from tyranny that many of these men would give their ONLY free breath so WE could be free. They were willing to die for something they would never even taste. How do WE repay their ultimate sacrifice? We deny their existence in history, refusing to teach our children of their bravery, just to satisfy a wicked and evil progressive agenda to keep men slaves. THAT, my patriots, is REAL racial hatred and bigotry!
GET THIS LESSON ON DVD & EMPOWER GENERATIONS IN THE NAME OF LIBERTY http://bit.ly/ForgottenFoundersLFU
We have the same obligation our forefathers had, to “secure the Blessings of Liberty” for “ages and millions yet unborn.” It is now our duty to pick up that mantle. But make no mistake; it will take a whole body of people to secure this Liberty. Not a whole nation, but a whole body dedicated to the great task remaining before us, and willing to give that pledge of Life, Fortune, and Sacred Honor.
We can fulfill this obligation because we are not alone in our struggle to maintain the Liberty that so many have died for. In the words of Patrick Henry, “(we are) Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of Liberty (and) we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us…The battle…is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” WE are the “vigilant, the active, the brave” and it is time that we embrace the truth, honor our heritage, and fulfill our destiny. America is indeed exceptional, and we are still capable of exceptional bravery and commitment.
I had a conversation with my son, who is six and afraid of the dark. As we were getting ready for bed, I told him to turn off the light and get into bed. He said, “Mommy, I can’t, if I turn off the light it will be dark and I won’t be able to see to get back to my bed.” I explained that there is nothing between the light switch and the bed that would hurt him and that he just needed to do it. He protested for a short while and then did as he was told. I then praised him for being so brave and reassured him by pointing out that the room didn’t change simply because the lights were dim. With tears in his eyes he said, “Mommy I was not brave at all, I was scared.” What a wonderful teaching moment God had given me! I said with great pride and joy in my heart, “Honey, being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means that you do what has to be done even though you ARE scared. And you were very brave.”
We must be brave. There is much we must do.
In America’s first great struggle for Liberty, Mercy Otis Warren wrote to John Adams;
“I have my fears. Yet, notwithstanding the complicated difficulties that rise before us, there is no receding; and I should blush if in any instance the weak passions of my sex should damp the fortitude, the patriotism, and the manly resolution of yours. May nothing ever check that glorious spirit of freedom which inspires the patriot in the cabinet, and the hero in the field, with courage to maintain their righteous cause, and to endeavor to transmit the claim to posterity, even if they must seal the rich conveyance to their children with their own blood.”
We must know as Patrick Henry said, that we need not be afraid, we will not fight our battles alone. But these battles for Liberty must be fought. And as Mercy, we must be resolute in the face of fear.
We must stand firm because we have the greatest birthright of any people. We live in the greatest nation on this planet. To whom much is given, much is required. We must deny our fears that convince us that we cannot survive without the comforts we enjoy. We must deny all fears that place anything above the Liberty that has been purchased for us. We must be resolved to make the same commitment to our children that our founders made for us.
“…though we are daily threatened with the depredations of Britain…yet each city…stands ready to sacrifice their devoted lives to preserve inviolate, and to convey to their children the inherent rights of men, conferred on all by the God of nature, and the privileges of Englishmen claimed by Americans from the sacred sanction of compacts.” Mercy Otis Warren December 29, 1774
GET THIS LESSON ON DVD & EMPOWER GENERATIONS IN THE NAME OF LIBERTY http://bit.ly/ForgottenFoundersLFU
Fear is a CHOICE and this glorious gift of Liberty comes with a price. This price has been paid for us and is continually paid by those men and women who give all. It is time that we do more than just barbeque and wear patriotic gear. We must meet this responsibility and honor their sacrifice with our devotion to the cause of Liberty, so that our children will not have to fight a battle that should be fought by us. Just because the light of this nation has dimmed, and at times we feel we cannot see the way ahead, the path to maintain Liberty has not changed. We must stand active, vigilant, brave – for the Liberty of our children – remembering those who bravely gave all…remember those who led the charge before us… remembering our obligation to liberty and to future generations…
“Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves. ” – Winston Churchill
May God continue to bless America a little while longer…
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! ~ Star Spangled Banner