Patrick Henry’s Virginia Resolves: Bedrock Principles of American Liberty
On his 29th birthday – May 29, 1765 – Patrick Henry helped spark the American Revolution. His Virginia Resolves against the Stamp Act not only dared to defy British rule, but also established a number of bedrock principles that would become cornerstones of...
Liberty Poles: Symbols of Freedom From Tyranny, Ancient and Modern
On May 21, 1766, the Sons of Liberty erected a liberty pole in the commons of New York City, celebrating the repeal of the Stamp Act. Although little is ever spoken of the liberty pole today, at the time of the American War for Independence and decades prior, they...
Blueprint: Rhetoric and Resistance Against the Townshend Acts
“The right of the people, to resist an unconstitutional law, is absolute and unqualified, from the moment the law is enacted.” Lysander Spooner penned this line in 1850, but he was tapping into a fundamental principle that evolved during the Revolution –...