During the Tea Party convention Judge Roy Moore, speaking on Feb. 5, 2010, recalled the words of American patriots and began by quoting Thomas Paine:
"These are the times that try men' souls."
From Patrick Henry:
"Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable--and let it come. I repeat, let it come."
"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. Our brethren are already in the field! Why should we stand idle?..Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give men liberty or give me death!"
Moore paraphrased the Declaration of Independence, addressing President Obama instead of the King of Britain, presenting a "Bill of Particulars."
"He has ignored our history and our heritage, arrogantly declaring to the world that we are no longer a Christian nation....He has apologized to the Arab world for our past, subjugated our national sovereignty by bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia....He has pursued a socialist agenda by the control of private companies and pushing a national health-care plan with a public option. Backed by a willing Congress, he has bought off our senators and our representatives with our own money in an effort to mandate this agenda. And when opposed by members of the Senate, he smugly smiled and said, "I won."
Moore concluded with a direct quote from the Declaration:
"A Prince, who character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
Judge Roy Moore is the author of "So Help Me God" and is a candidate for governor of Alabama.
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Comments
so Martha, the Tea Party intends to secede from America?
That's what the Boston Tea Party was about, severing ties to Britain...is this Tea Party going to sever ties to The United States? The United States "patriots" were also England's "traitors". Do we find the same situation wherein Tea Party "Patriots" are America's "traitors"? You cannot serve two masters (kings)...Tea Partiers can only be patriots to a new, separate country and traitors to the old country (like America vs England)
These are called 'tea partiers' but they don't have anything to do with the original revolutionary war. It's just a label, sort of like calling a team tigers but they aren't really striped.
Martha, do you know if the quote by Patrick Henry about Christianity is true or not. I was reading somewhere that it was not true but the book she refers to is 1956. If someone made up that quote way before 1956, why would they do that to Patrick Henry. If I were going to make up a quote like that, I would have said Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson said it. Since it was Patrick Henry and since it was attributed to him before I was born, I suspect it is true but can it be proven? www.rationalrant.blogspot.com/2008/06/patrick-henry-redux.html
You might enjoy doing some serious research about this. Start at your local public library and explain to a librarian the answer you are seeking. Of course, you are already familiar with research on the Internet.
You may also discover some other interesting facets of Patrick Henry's life along the way. By the way, I always go to the Index in a book before deciding whether or not it meets my research needs,
Thanks for taking the time to read the article about American Patriot's Words.
Martha
I received a rather puzzling comment at my weblog (Rational Rant) from you, or at any rate from somebody signing herself "Martha", saying that you'd replied to my comment at this address. I've never commented here before.
I believe the quotation the person above is referring to is the one from the 1956 Virginian about this great nation being founded by Christians and not "religionists". The original piece refers to Patrick Henry, and apparently somebody in the 1980s became confused by that and thought it was by Patrick Henry. Incidentally, I ran down the source in (you guessed it) my local public library.
The speech you quoted above (give me liberty or give me death) also has an interesting history. When William Wirt was trying to piece together a biography of Patrick Henry early in the nineteenth century he ran into the problem that though Henry was said to be a great orator, no examples of his oratory could be found. Eventually he found one person who had been present at one of the speeches who could remember some of the words. His informant wrote them down (decades after the events) and Wirt published them as written. Modern analysis suggests that the actual words aren't Henry's, but that the ideas behind them are.
It's a cool speech, whoever wrote it.
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