Over the next few weeks, we will post about events from the time of our country's founding. The individuals featured in these articles each took a personal risk in support of our country. They did not know what lay before them. There are lessons in these articles we can apply to today's events.
With special thanks to Joseph Holyoak and his 1776 Moments commentary.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. That’s how he’s most often remembered. A classic old tale of vigor and excitement. The lengthy verses used to be memorized by schoolchildren and were retold to generations.
Part fact, part fiction, they’re an endearing part of our American History. And the British were not just coming, they were already here.
The Real Paul Revere had the same problems we have: money, jobs, family and a desire to live free, unencumbered by an overbearing Government.
No, he didn’t have the pressure of today’s hyper-stimulating electronics. But in a world with outhouses and chamber pots, Revere and many other Patriots lived in a state of not just anxiety, like most of us today, but terror.
Revere and his associates, some in a group called The Sons of Liberty (later “The Mechanics” and “The Liberty Boys), had to meet in secret, under Biblical oath never to divulge the locations or topics of meetings. Spies and traitors were a daily concern for them in a world where survival depended on loyalties and allegiances.
One who had taken a stand against the British had cause to worry that running into the King’s Men would lead to possible imprisonment, injury or death. Revere writes of being detained with a pistol to his head, under threat of having his brains blown out if he lied or insulted the British troops.
Despite these experiences, he continued to plot with other men, to win small victories toward having a Government that England couldn’t destroy.
Paul Revere also had a life outside of his pursuits to free us from the English. He ran businesses, and was an accomplished Silversmith, Engraver and Dentist. After the death of his first wife, there a second wife and a total of 16 children. Revere undoubtedly looked into his children’s eyes and knew they’d been given the gift of life in a new country with fresh hope. He and many others risked everything to get the chance to establish a free people.
In today’s world, maybe you, like Paul Revere, have looked into your children's eyes and told yourself, “I have to do everything I can to save our freedoms.” Maybe you’ve done everything you can to warn others that we’re in trouble.
If so, you are with us. The question is, has it worked? Have your warnings and actions made the difference it will take to turn our country around? For us, we’ve had to say, “no”, it hasn’t worked. We’ve needed a new plan.
Please join us in the Convention of States (COS) Project. We believe passage of this bill will lead to the success we’ve been desperately seeking. Like Paul Revere, we believe this effort is worth the sacrifice and it will work. Join us.
