What country ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? And
what country can preserve it's 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 and 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 and tyrants. It is it's natural
manure." ~ Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, Paris, 13 Nov. 1787
The Tree of Liberty
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