tury & a half for each state. What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure." The context of the letter is answering the charge of America in anarchy to the British crown but applicable to any situation in which American freedom and democracy is in jeopardy.In the 2001 film Swordfish, John Travolta’s character Gabriel makes the following statement to describe the rogue war he is waging. “Anyone who impinges on America's freedom. Terr
orist states, Stanley. Someone must bring their war to them. They bomb a church, we bomb 10. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourist, we tactically nuke an entire city. Our job is to make terrorism so horrific that is becomes unthinkable to attack Americans.” Could this be considered a more modern or contextualized version of Jefferson’s statement?If we look back at the wars America has fought since Jefferson wrote that letter, would you agree that in each case it was a war to defend liberty? Was Jefferson right? Will we surely shed our own blood and the blood of others from time to time to protect the freedoms we enjoy? Just seventy-two years later, the Confederate States staged their own rebellion. From the Southern view, their tree of liberty was challenged in their way of life and mode of economic prosperity. Indeed, the U.S. Government was the tyrant. Liberty, by definition, is the ability to exercise one’s will as they see fit. However, the U.S. Government’s liberty to dictate its will on its own citizens was being threatened. Could each of these entities apply Jefferson’s quote to their situation?
No greater mobilization of American patriots has ever been assembled than those responding to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Undeniably, the entire nation mobilized to defend its tree of liberty. No greater threat to American liberty has been felt since December 11, 1941, until the attacks of September 11, 2001. Politics aside, virtually everyone agrees that a response was necessary. What does history dictate we do as a response? Again, looking at this with the benefit of our past responses and results of defending our liberty, will we have to shed the blood of our patriots and the blood of the attacking tryants from time to time?
