Posted on 06/23/2005 3:19:59 PM PDT by truth49
To protest this gross violation of the Constitutional right to private property, EFF president, Bob Williams, raised the Gadsden flag outside of EFF's office today.
The Gadsden flag was the fighting standard chosen by American patriots during the Revolutionary War. The English government was infringing upon the fundamental rights of life, liberty and property, and, as a result, the American colonists revolted. The Gadsden flag, with the famous words “Don’t tread on me,” best portrayed their sentiment. In the same spirit, and for the same reason, EFF has chosen the Gadsden flag as our standard as we fight to restore our property rights.
| THE GADSDEN FLAG AND ITS LEGACY OF LIBERTY | |||||
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The Gadsden flag was the fighting standard chosen by American patriots during the Revolutionary War. It has become a national symbol of resilience and liberty.
The symbol’s origin dates back to 1754, when Benjamin Franklin drew the first political cartoon in an American newspaper. In it, he linked the image of a snake with the cause of colonial unity during the French and Indian War. The cartoon was quite popular and different renditions of it were seen in newspapers throughout the colonies.
Franklin, who was opposed to making the bald eagle America’s national emblem because it was a bird of “bad moral character,” favored the rattlesnake instead. In 1775, he wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Journal under the alias “An American Guesser,” in which he made his case for the rattlesnake as America’s insignia. As he noted, the rattlesnake “is found in no other quarter of the world besides America,” and, without eyelids, it could “be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.”
Furthermore, Franklin pointed out that the rattlesnake “never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage... she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her….'Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living."
In 1775, a shipment of weaponry for the British troops in America was set to arrive from England. The Continental Congress, intending to take the British ships, formed the Continental Navy. Some of the marines deployed for this mission painted their drums bright yellow with a coiled rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me” in the center. When Colonel Christopher Gadsden, leader of the Sons of Liberty, saw the drums, he had a flag made with the same image. He presented one to the commander-in-chief of the new Navy, Esek Hopkins, and another to the South Carolina legislature. As the idea of using a flag with a rattlesnake on it as the standard for the revolution caught on, the colonists rallied around flags similar to the one that Col. Gadsden had made, making it the symbol of freedom for which these men had resolved to die.
Because of the Gadsden flag’s rich, patriotic history, EFF has chosen it as our standard as we fight to restore our property rights.
The Gadsden falg will be flying over my house this 4th!
Check yer freepmail.
Your cover of snake and rifl on a flag would be a great modern flag.
Is that t-shirt design only on the back of the t-shirt? What's on the front?
On the front is a very small and subtle "LifeLibertyEtc.com" logo. I'm not associated with that outfit in any way, other than I came up with the idea for a Naval Jack flag with a rifle crossed over the snake.
Thanks for the post.
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