"Don't Tread On Me!"

By: Gregory Price

American revolutionary soldiers adorned their flag of freedom with a hissing rattler.  What a great choice!  In the center of their golden banner, Christopher Gadsden's legendary coiled serpent perched above four words, which summarized colonial fury and still symbolizes our American defensive today,

    "Don't Tread on Me.

"The revolutionary soldiers knew that, like the rattlesnake emblazoned on their early flags, liberty could only be found in America.  The rattlesnake, an essentially non aggressive creature until provoked, warns those who dare invade its territory with an ominous rattle, then strikes to kill.  Gadsden's choice depiction epitomizes the revolutionary American ideal of an offensive defense and the US no-nonsense attitude towards instigators, which still holds true today.

America's consistent and persistent defense of freedom has been, and continues to be, "Don't Tread on Me."  This determination to defend the American way of life from tyrants, trespassers, and terrorists was true for our revolutionary forefathers and is still true for the sons of the American Revolution.

For example, in 1798, Americans agreed, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."  In response to the Barbary pirates of Tripoli, whose pillaging and plundering bled the American shipping industry.  In exchange for "tribute," the Tripoli tyrants offered protection and agreed not to imprison our sailors or steal from American vessels.  America's response?  The deployment of the US Navy to sink the Barbary fleet in 1800.

"Don't Tread on Me."

America's liberty was again threatened in 1812, when English soldiers torched the White House.  In 1814, even after Anglo-American negotiations were complete, Andrew Jackson led a troop from the US army to oust a band of British soldiers unwilling to abandon a fort in Louisiana and, as the song goes, we took a little bacon and we took a little beans, and we beat the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.

"Don't Tread on Me."

America sprung to an aggressive defensive in 1836 to fight the Mexican army led by General Santa Anna.  We joined the Lone Star Territory in a battle to avenge American lives lost in San Antonio.  Sam Houston and an American volunteer army ambushed Santa Anna, capturing the last of the Spanish soldiers, initiating a peace settlement, and claiming Mexican territory for America. "Remember the Alamo,"

"Don't Tread on Me"

During the 1940's, FDR reminded us, that the United States must "be the great arsenal of democracy" in response to Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Japan's surprise attack on America and its army's unyielding mass murder in the Pacific, gave President Truman no option but to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"Don't Tread on Me"

Nearly two centuries after our newly formed country retaliated against the Barbary pirates, President Reagan responded to the terrorist actions of "the mad clown of Tripoli," Muammar Qaddafi.  Qaddafi's insistence on acting as an international outlaw led to massive bombings of his military headquarters and barracks and, ultimately, the complete debilitation of Libya's armed forces.

"Don't Tread on Me"

This revolutionary American principle of an active defense of liberty is still very real today.  September 11 united all Americans from firefighters to airline travelers against those who dare to threaten freedom.  President Bush and the United States Armed Forces soared into immediate action in operation Noble Eagle.

America rattles its tail.  Countries who continue to harbor terrorists have been put on notice, the of America emphatically warns,

"Don't Tread on Me"

This uniquely American rattlesnake response to tyrants, trespassers, and terrorists is immortalized on our Revolutionary flag and emblazoned on our American hearts.
 

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Last updated: August 26, 2008.

                                   
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