Born on the Fourth of July

Without Freedom of Thought there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as Public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.Benjamin Franklin, writing as Silence Dogood, No. 8, 1722

Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

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, Sir, let it come!Patrick Henry

If men through fear, fraud or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of Man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave.John Adams, Rights of the Colonists, 1772

The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, New Englanders are no more. I AM NOT A VIRGINIAN, BUT AN AMERICAN!Patrick Henry, n.d.

I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.Patrick Henry, n.d.

Resolved: That these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved of all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective colonies for their consideration and approbation.Richard Lee, Resolution in Congress, June 7, 1776

The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.Thomas Jefferson, Rights of British America, 1774

If this be treason, make the most of it.Patrick Henry, n.d.

Nothing short of independence, it appears to me, can possibly do. A peace on other terms would..... be a peace of war.George Washington, Letter to John Banister, 1778

The hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are free men, fighting for the blessings of Liberty -- that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men.George Washington, 1776

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.Benjamin Franklin

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.Thomas Paine

There is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away. There is a time to fight, and that time has now come.Peter Muhlenberg, from a Lutheran sermon read at Woodstock, Virginia, January 1776

Yesterday the greatest question was decided... and a greater question perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.John Adams, Letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.Benjamin Franklin, (attributed) at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live as slaves.John Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of the Cause and Necessity of Taking up Arms, July 6, 1775

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.Nathan Hale, before being hanged by the British, September 22, 1776

I have not yet begun to fight!John Paul Jones, response to enemy demand to surrender, September 23, 1779

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776

The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.
John Adams

The war has actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!Nathanael Greene, In an anonymous letter, 1781

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Law of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776