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CNS: Opinion Time: 5:30 PM,Wednesday, June
14, 2000
A Flag of Conviction: "Don't Tread On
Me"
By Matthew Robinson CNS Commentary 14 June, 2000 Christopher Gadsden's face and name may not
be immortalized on any bill or coin, but this firebrand designed a symbol which,
even through the swirling mists of time, is a reminder of the birth of the
nation and the spirit that carried it to freedom.
June 14 is Flag Day. On that day, of course,
we remember the Stars and Stripes and the men who fought under that banner for
freedom. Gadsden gave us another great flag, one that flew prominently during
the American Revolution, under which many men fought and died. Gadsden's was the
blazing yellow banner that sports the ominous coiled snake and revolutionary
warning, "Don't Tread on Me."
Today we don't take the time as we once did
to remember those iron men who fought the Revolution. And, worse, we seem to
have forgotten the principles, energy, and sacrifice they poured into defending
freedom and the rule of law.
South Carolina's Christopher Gadsden is as
much a symbol of the spirit of the American Revolution as his flag. When
Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, Gadsden helped rally opposition to that
oppressive law. He argued that taxation without representation in Parliament
violated the most basic laws of the English constitution and the natural rights
of citizens.
The Stamp Act, like many of the attempts to
control the colonies, would set an unlawful precedent. The taxes on tea, trade
and even paper were modest. The real problem, the revolutionaries understood, is
that the Stamp Act laid the groundwork for the unlimited and unrepresentative
expansion of government. It was the thin edge of the wedge.
As John Dickinson wrote, "If Parliament
succeeds in this attempt, other statutes will impose other duties... and thus
Parliament will levy upon us such sums of money as they choose to take without
any other limitation than their pleasure."
Gadsden was a man of principle who
understood that government, unless held in check, grows slowly and inexorably.
And a government that has no limits, no constitutionally drawn boundaries, soon
becomes the master and the citizens become heavily-taxed workers little more
than slaves. Without representation--the ability to fight for their
interests--the colonies would be subject to the whim and will of politicians
ever in search of more revenue and swag to grant the "court locusts" who buzz
around institutions of power expecting a handout.
When the Stamp Act was passed the British
envoy who was set to enforce the new law tried to land in Charleston. But
Gadsden led the Sons of Liberty against the tax-collecting functionary. The
patriots would not let his ship anchor to enforce the illegal act.
Then, the captain of the British ship turned
back through the mouth of the Charleston harbor to anchor at Fort Johnson.
The Sons of Liberty, no doubt alcohol-fueled
and intoxicated with raucous songs of their victory, heard of this and decided
to show Parliament just how much they hated oppressive taxes. They traveled to
the fort, took it over, and aimed the British guns at the Stamp Act collector's
ship.
Outmatched and obviously outgunned, the
captain set to sea never to return. Gadsden and his men then went home. Through
legal channels, the patriots continued their resistance to the Stamp Act and
eventually had it overturned.
Eight years later, America was in full
rebellion against British rule, which had become more capricious and still
threatened unjust and burdensome taxation. It was then that Gadsden became a
colonel in the Revolutionary Army and presented his unique ensign as the flag of
the Cause.
The coiled snake might seem a strange symbol
today. But it was and is effective. No American who ever sees it forgets -- and
that's just the kind of message the revolutionaries wanted to send.
For those early Americans, the rattlesnake
had special significance. Like liberty, the rattler was found only in America.
But that wasn't all. That wily serpent was usually just a harmless, humble
creature. But aroused, angered, and prodded, first it warned with violent rattle
then it struck with a deadly bite. Gadsden emphasized this by printing the
legend "Don't Tread On Me" on his flag.
The words swept the nation. It became the
banner of minutemen militias. The Culpeper Minutemen chose the coiled snake
ready to strike and the words from Gadsden's flag, but then raised another
defiant fist at England by adding the words: "Liberty or Death."
At sea, the first flag of the Continental
Navy carried Gadsden's warning, this time with a sea snake slithering across the
13 red-and-white stripes.
Early Americans saw the tremendous
opportunities of a land born of liberty where men were free to innovate, invent
and explore. They could reap the rewards of freedom without government meddling
and were safe because they answered to God, family and their local
communities.
Most of all, those early Americans
understood that liberty is fragile. To give any distant body of elites the power
to tax and spend to stay in power promises corruption and a Leviathan government
more interested in concentrating power for itself than in protecting the rights
of its citizens.
Flag Day may be about the Stars and Stripes,
a banner that symbolizes freedom and justice to Americans and the world. But
Gadsden and his flag are a still a symbol that liberty needs friends who can
fight for the rule of law and principle for the good of the generations to
come.
Matthew Robinson is the 1999 Phillips
Foundation Journalism Fellow and an adjunct fellow of the Claremont
Institute.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewOpinion.asp?Page=\Opinion\archive\OPI20000614b.html "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause
against an ungodly nation:
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man" (Psalm 43:1). |
