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That which preserves our rights has the right to be preserved.
The Declaration of Independence was a "scrap of paper"
until made immortal by tho blood and sacrifice of our patriotic
ancestors. The sufferings of Valley Forge, the courage of Washington,
the victory of Yorktown, secured American liberties and wrote
this great document into the hearts of liberty-loving people.
This colony (Massachusetts) is ready, at all times, to spend and be spent in the cause of America. - Warren - Message to Continental Congress. When the Constitution of the United States was adopted, with the exception of a small area along the Atlantic coast, America was a wilderness. She had a population of approximately 3.000,000 people. By the liberties granted and with unrestricted opportunity the colonials and pioneers conquered the wilderness, converting it into a land of fertile fields, great industries, and contented homes, an achievement of little more than 100 years. Freedom not a gift. - Freedom is not a gift. It has been bought and paid for in the sacrifices of peace and war. It is laid in long hours of toil, the swing of the ax in the forest, the campfire of the lonely pioneer, the sod house of the early settler, the community stockade and the frontier Army post. Freedom has traveled a long, hard road. None but the strong and courageous have possessed it and by none others can it be retained. |
