Edmund Burke’s Speech ‘On Conciliation with the Colonies’
Edmund Burke (1729–97) was a member of British Parliament at the time of this speech. He was elected as the representative from Bristol in 1774. …
liberty
Alexander Hamilton: The sacred rights of mankind…are written, as with a sun beam… by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
When Loyalist writings began to appear in New York newspapers in 1775, nineteen-year-old Hamilton responded with an essay defending the colonists’ right of revolution. Still …
The First Continental Congress Secretly Meets in Philadelphia to Discuss British Tyranny
On September 5, 1774, every colony but Georgia sent representatives to what is now called the First Continental Congress. They met in secret because they …
Two More ‘Intolerable Acts’ Passed: The Massachusetts Government Act & Administration Justice Act
The Massachusetts Government Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on May 20, 1774. The Massachusetts Government Act revoked the colony’s 1691 charter effectively …
John Hancock on a Militia: “They fight (Not for a Master’s ambition, but) for their Houses, their Lands, for their Wives, …for their Liberty, and for their God”
On the 4th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, 1774, John Hancock, who would be the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, stated: “Will not a …
The Sons of Liberty Erected a Liberty Pole in the commons of NYC Celebrating the Repeal of the Stamp Act.
Although little is ever spoken of the liberty pole today, at the time of the American War for Independence and decades prior, they were the …
Rev. Jonathan Mayhew gives his Famous Sermon that Inspired the Declaration of Independence
In his 1818 analysis of the Revolution, John Adams said, But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? …
John Peter Zenger, New York editor, acquitted of libel in New York
A jury acquitted publisher John Peter Zenger of libel charges against New York’s colonial governor, in an early landmark moment for the free press and …
Benjamin Franklin: “Whoever would Overthrow the Liberty of a Nation must Begin by Subduing the Freeness of Speech.”
Silence Dogood, No. 8 Printed in The New-England Courant, July 9, 1722. On June 11 the Courant had insinuated that the Massachusetts authorities were not making …
Benjamin Franklin: “Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.”
“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.” – The …