You often see the numbers 419 on patriot types blogs. Heck, I’ve even noticed them on my son’s HALO game. What do these three simple numbers stand for? Is it some secret code? A cryptic message that only Patriots know? Yes and at the same time, a resounding No! 419 refers to April 15, 1775. This is a red letter day in American History and for patriots all over the world. That was the day the shot was fired that was heard around the World. The day that the Battle of Lexington and Concord was fought.

For those of you that slept through your American History class in High School, I’ll give you a refresher.  The Militia in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts had been stockpiling weapons and the British Military didn’t like it. 700 British Army Regulars, under the Command of  Lt. Colonel Francis Smith, were dispatched from Boston to confiscate these weapons.

Yes, gun confiscation has happened before in America, and it can happen again.

The word leaked out and Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent out to warn the local Militias. Just as the sun rose that fateful morning the first shots of the American Revolution rang out. The Lexington Militia, badly outnumbered, fell back toward Concord. Word of the battle spread like wildfire and, by the time the British Army arrived in Concord, they were met by several hundred Colonial Militiamen. They clashed again at the Old North Bridge in Concord. Several Hundred Militiamen defeated three companies of the Kings Troops. Farmers defeated the best Army in the world that day.

In the poem “Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson it describes the battle like this.

Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

I’ve often wondered who first fired that shot heard ’round the world. Was it fired by a youthful Militiaman nervous at the prospect facing the British Redcoats? Was it an overeager British Infantryman? I have a friend who believes that somebody slammed a door and all hell broke out. I have my own theory and If you don’t like it then tough; its my theory and I like it. I am a Christian and I believe that America is a land ordained by God to be a bastion of Freedom for all faiths where they can worship, How, Where, and What they may!

I have been accused of taking the Bible to literal at times, so bear with me. Do you remember John the Apostle of Jesus who desired to tarry on the earth until Jesus returns again. I can imagine him standing in the background, watching the events unwind. He can see the Militia wavering. He knows that America needs to be free for Christians to worship freely, so he draws a flintlock pistol from his waistband and pointing it skyward…fires. The rest is history. You don’t need to believe my theory; but it is kind of fun.

Remember Lexington and Concord!

419

The American Revolution

What if we didn’t have people like Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin. What if we didn’t actually win the Revolutionary War? What would this world have been like if America never existed? If it wasn’t for the resolve, dedication and commitment by men like Patrick Henry and the fact that there was a rifle in every house, sometimes three or four, we would not have won our independence and you would have no day off on the 4th of July. We would have nothing to celebrate as Americans because there would be NO AMERICA. There would be no freedom of speech, no right to a fair and speedy trial, no equal rights under the law. The slaves would not have been freed and the history of this planet would have been changed drastically. Imagine the World Wars without America to save the day. Imagine how many people would have died. Do you think Hitler would have stopped at 11 million people? There are a million different scenarios covering a myriad of different areas of our history where, without America’s touch, things would have been drastically different. One more time, lets visit where it all started.

As the war ships started rolling in from the ocean, flying the Flag of Briton, people started to realize that they were not there help. The French-American war had been over for over 10 years and there was no other enemy for the British to fight. No other enemy but colonists. It was the largest military build up in the history of this new continent and the looming nature of it was what forced the colonists hands. Patrick Henry said,

“Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlement assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other.”
Here in lies where our Founding Fathers got their inspiration from to craft the 2nd Amendment. If it was not for personal firearms ownership, we would not have had the necessary means to defend against an aggressor the size of the British Army. If they had antisipated this situation before hand and confiscated the colonists weapons before things got out of hand, America would NEVER have happened. In the same spirit, The Second Amendment stands as the last, final and largest check to balance out government.

“If the people fear their government, there is tyranny, if the government fears it’s people, there is liberty.” — Thomas Jefferson
So where would we be today if we did not have the Second Amendment?

“I would never invade the United States on the ground. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” — Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Japanese Navy)

Defenseless and easy to dominate. How could we ensure our liberty and freedom if we had no recompense against a Government that is constantly trying to push through and go around our Constitution? Without the same means that the colonists had when challenging British tyranny, we would have no defense and, therefore, NO FREEDOM. It is not the act of revolution which insures our freedom. It is the ability to revolt, if needed, that defines our relative safety. I do not, in anyway what so ever, endorse revolution or armed insurrection in this country. The suffering would be great and you can never tell what may rise from the ashes of something as extreme as that. I do, however, strongly support our right as individuals to bare arms in our own defense and the defense of our freedom from threats, foreign and domestic. No one supports the act of nuclear war but I would be damned if most would want us to be nuke-less with the Russian Bear right across the Bearing Strait with 1000 warheads pointed at our cities. Well at least no one but the Bear. Abraham Lincoln once said that America would never fall at the hands of foreign invaders but would collapse from the inside out.

The really interesting stuff is coming up in my next and final post of the series. This is where we take a look at the statistics and raw data of how gun control and gun bans have affected other nations in the last 50 years. I think you will be surprised at what you read.

For those of you who, like me, hold the Second Amendment near and dear to your hearts, this will be nothing but a reaffirmation. Those of you who have not yet fallen in love with the great gift that our Founding Fathers gave us, this should help you to understand why some of us hold it as one of the most important aspects of the Constitution.

It was March 23, 1775 and Patrick Henry was addressing what was to be known as the very first representative form of government this nation has ever seen, The House of Burgesses. Years had passed since the end of the French-American War and England was coming down hard on the colonies. For ten years they had supplicated to the King. All the while, British Parliament was limiting their rights to meet in numbers, charging absorbent amounts of taxes without the offer of Parliamentary Representation and controlling trade and commerce, thereby limiting the colonists ability grow and be successful. The Parliament was mandating that all colonists must allow British military to quarter in their homes without permission and tried to implement the colonies first product duty tax through the Stamp Act of 1765.

As representative after representative showed their loyalist blood by asking for more supplication and surrender in fear of the British forces currently amassing off the coast, one man knew the answer to be clear. He knew there could only be two choices and he roused a feeling and sentiment that was to become the spirit of this great nation. He offered two roads. One slavery and the other liberty. There was to be no quarter, no middle ground. Liberty or death he cried, and he meant it. He saw the writing on the wall and knew something HAD to happen. The text to his historic speech is below. I leave you now with Patrick Henry’s words that sparked a Revolution. In a few subsequent posts I would like to talk about how it applies to our lives today and present you with some statistics that I think you will find revealing so come back in a few days.

Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.

“No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, 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, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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 me liberty or give me death!”

He was cheered with people jumping to their feet all over the room, chanting, “To WAR! To WAR!”

It was a scary, dark day but at the same time it set in motion the events that led up to the forming of the country you live in and love.

(To be continued…)