Thomas Paine – Rebel With A Clue

Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809) was a British pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, inventor, and intellectual. He lived and worked in Britain until age 37, when he emigrated to the British American colonies, in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contribution was the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America’s independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.

Later, he greatly influenced the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Man (1791), a guide to Enlightenment ideas. Despite not speaking French, he was elected to the French National Convention in 1792. The Girondists regarded him as an ally, so, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy. In December of 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of The Age of Reason (1793–94), the book advocating deism and arguing against Christian doctrines. In France, he also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income.

He remained in France during the early Napoleonic era, but condemned Napoleon’s dictatorship, calling him “the completest charlatan that ever existed”.^[1] In 1802, at President Thomas Jefferson’s invitation, he returned to America.

Thomas Paine died, at the age of 72, at 59 Grove Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, on June 8, 1809. He was buried at what is now called the Thomas Paine Cottage in New Rochelle, New York, where he had lived after returning to America in 1802. His remains were later disinterred by an admirer, William Cobbett, who sought to return them to England. The bones were, however, later lost and his final resting place today is unknown.

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Patrick Henry – The Fire-Tongued Orator

Patrick Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia in 1736, to John and Sarah Winston Henry. A symbol of America’s struggle for liberty and self-government, Patrick Henry was a lawyer, patriot, orator, and willing participant in virtually every aspect of the founding of America.

• Born May 29, 1736 in Hanover County, Virginia
• Protested British tyranny
• Symbol of American struggle for liberty
• Served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress
• Five-term governor of Virginia
• Delivered the famous “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. Listen to the speech.
• Died June 6, 1799 at Red Hill Plantation, Virginia

Early Years

John Henry educated young Patrick at home, including teaching him to read Latin, but Patrick studied law on his own. In 1760, he appeared in Williamsburg to take his attorney’s examination before Robert Carter Nicholas, Edmund Pendleton, John and Peyton Randolph, and George Wythe, and from that day forward, Patrick Henry’s story is inseparable from the stream of Virginia history.

Powerful words resonated

In 1763, arguing the famed Parson’s Cause in Hanover County, Patrick Henry proclaimed that a king who would veto a good and necessary law made by a locally elected representative body was not a father to his people but “a tyrant who forfeits the allegiance of his subjects.” Henry amplified his idea to the point of treason in defending his resolutions against the Stamp Act in the House of Burgesses May 30, 1765.

Carried away by the fervor of his own argument, the plainly dressed burgess from Louisa County exclaimed that “Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third…” At this point, cries of treason rose from all sides, but with hardly a pause, Henry neatly “baffled the charge vociferated” and won the burgesses for his cause. Five of his resolutions approved, the new leader in Virginia politics saddled his lean horse and took the westward road out of Williamsburg. (After his departure, one of the resolutions was overturned.) Henceforth, Patrick Henry was a leader in every protest against British tyranny and in every movement for colonial rights.

Strong believer in citizens’ right to bear arms

In March 1775, Patrick Henry urged his fellow Virginians to arm in self-defense, closing his appeal (uttered at St. John’s Church in Richmond, where the legislature was meeting) with the immortal words: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”

Actions marked the beginning of revolution in Virginia

Henry’s call to arms was carried over the protests of more conservative patriots and was one of the causes of the order for Lord Dunmore, the royal governor, to remove some gunpowder from the Magazine. Henry, “a Quaker in religion but the very devil in politics,” mobilized the militia to force restitution of the powder. Since Henry’s action followed the British march on Concord by only a few hours, it is said to mark the beginning of the American Revolution in Virginia.

Served in public office for nearly 30 years

Henry served in the Virginia House of Burgesses; he was a member of the Virginia committee of Correspondence, a delegate to the Virginia Convention, and a delegate to the Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention. He played a prominent role in the May 6, 1776, convention and became the first governor of the commonwealth under its new constitution. Patrick Henry served five terms as governor of Virginia. He died in 1799 at his home on Red Hill Plantation.

Content © www.history.org

Insanity on Capitol Hill

With the nation deepening in economic turmoil a virus seems to have gotten loose on capitol hill. This virus seems to turn the minds and backbones of men and women alike, into a gelatinous mass. They then stop thinking and rush to get something done, rather than stopping to think if they ought to be doing anything at all.

We stand at a crossroads, the future of our country is looking more bleak every day. Our lawmakers seem more ready to do the things that will bring them greater popularity, rather than take a hard look and make hard or unpopular decisions that would be in the best interest of our country.

Now that we have every lawmaker in Washington DC squabbling over the billions of dollars that they want to print for us, our state leaders are discussing all the great ways that they can spend the money that comes to them. What a great opportunity for our state leaders to really “LEAD” and turn down the money. Follow true economic principles and somebody take a stand before this beast destroys what little we have left. Call your state representatives and ask them to stand against this doling out of your children’s future today.

The problem was not created because of and will not be fixed with MONEY. We must take a stand for principle or we will reap the unfortunate rewards of economic slavery.