|
| |
|
Minutemen of Culpeper County, Virginia
___________________________________________
The Culpeper Flag
|
Flag of the Culpeper Minute Men.
|
The Gadsden
flag and other rattlesnake
flags were widely used during the American Revolution. There was no
standard American flag at the time, not even Betsy
Ross's stars and stripes.
People were free to choose their own banners.
The Minutemen of Culpeper County, Virginia, chose
a flag that looks generally like the Gadsden flag, but also includes the
famous words of the man who organized the Virginia militia, Patrick Henry:
"Liberty or Death."
By the way, there's a fair amount of confusion
about the spelling of Culpeper. You often see it spelled Culpepper, with
three p's. These are both, legitimate alternate spellings of an English
surname. But the flag should definitely be spelled Culpeper, since that's
the official spelling of Culpeper, Virginia.
Note: This history of the Gadsden flag was written by me, Chris Whitten,
based on extensive personal research. It also appears on FoundingFathers.info.
You are welcome to quote from it, reprint excerpts, or even republish the
entire thing. However, please give me credit and link to Gadsden.info.
If you want to copy images, see the Gadsden
flag clip art page. Thanks!
Source
of Above - the Gadsden Flag |
| |
| "The
right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as
the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong
moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will
generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the
people to resist and triumph over them...."
Quoted from Joseph Story* in,
“Commentaries on the Constitution” (1833).
* Former Associate Justice of U.S.
Supreme Court
|
|
|
| "...The
one thing that is absolute is that the Second Amendment guarantees a
personal and individual right to keep and bear arms, and prohibits
government from disarming the people...."
Quoted from: Silveira v. Lockyer -
Dissent by:
Judge Kozinski.
|
| |
| |
|
