On April 19, 1775 "The Shot Heard Round The World" was fired on the village green at Lexington, Massachusetts. It was the beginning of the American Revolution.
On the night of April 18, Paul Revere and William Dawes and Robert Prescott had ridden from Boston through the countryside toward Lexington to warn the Minutemen that the British army was marching toward Concord Massachusetts to seize their stockpile of weapons. American patriots stood up to a better-equipped foreign army to declare that no foreign government and their army had the right to impose themselves on native citizens of another society.
Eight years later the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States declared the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of their country, to prevent the kind of actions that had taken place on April 18-19, 1775 of the British army presuming to seize the Americans' stockpile of weapons.
In Massachusetts we commemorate April 19, 1775, the first day of the American Revolution, each year on a monday holiday called "Patriots' Day". That's the day of the Boston Marathon, which interestingly enough commemorates the last day of a much more ancient war, in Marathon, Greece.
The Boston Marathon runs by, a mile away from my house, and Lexington is just a few miles away.
I am writing this to remind you that we celebrate Patriots' Day to remember that no invading army has the right to impose their rule on the sovereign citizens of another nation. If a foreign army presumes to invade another nation, that nation has the right to bear whatever weapons it may possess to repell the foreign invaders.
These are the principles upon which the American Revolution was begun 228 years ago, in the very place from which I am typing this message.
These are the principles which any true American patriot must stand by.
On Sunday April 13, 2003 Americans will be lining the route of Paul Revere's ride on Massachusetts Avenue from Boston to Lexington to "Stand Up For Peace".
On the night of April 18, Paul Revere and William Dawes and Robert Prescott had ridden from Boston through the countryside toward Lexington to warn the Minutemen that the British army was marching toward Concord Massachusetts to seize their stockpile of weapons. American patriots stood up to a better-equipped foreign army to declare that no foreign government and their army had the right to impose themselves on native citizens of another society.
Eight years later the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States declared the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of their country, to prevent the kind of actions that had taken place on April 18-19, 1775 of the British army presuming to seize the Americans' stockpile of weapons.
In Massachusetts we commemorate April 19, 1775, the first day of the American Revolution, each year on a monday holiday called "Patriots' Day". That's the day of the Boston Marathon, which interestingly enough commemorates the last day of a much more ancient war, in Marathon, Greece.
The Boston Marathon runs by, a mile away from my house, and Lexington is just a few miles away.
I am writing this to remind you that we celebrate Patriots' Day to remember that no invading army has the right to impose their rule on the sovereign citizens of another nation. If a foreign army presumes to invade another nation, that nation has the right to bear whatever weapons it may possess to repell the foreign invaders.
These are the principles upon which the American Revolution was begun 228 years ago, in the very place from which I am typing this message.
These are the principles which any true American patriot must stand by.
On Sunday April 13, 2003 Americans will be lining the route of Paul Revere's ride on Massachusetts Avenue from Boston to Lexington to "Stand Up For Peace".
- [*]Stop the bombing of Iraq
[*]Bring the troops home
[*]Money for communities, not for war
