some background...
"Sic Semper Tyrannis" translates as "Thus Always unto Tyrants", or "Death unto Tyrants". This phrase is the Virginia state motto, and appears on the state flag and official seals and such.
The phrase is said to have originated with Marcus Junius Brutus during the assassination of Julius Caesar. The phrase has been invoked historically in Europe and other parts of the world as an epithet or rallying cry against abuse of power. The phrase was recommended by George Mason to the Virginia Convention in 1776, as part of the state's seal. [At a previous state convention one year before, Patrick Henry proposed arming the Virginia militia and delivered his "give me liberty or give me death" speech to rally support for the measure. So by 1776 they were deciding on mottos, flags, seals, and crests.] The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia shows Virtue, spear in hand, with her foot on the prostrate form of Tyranny, whose crown lies nearby. The Seal was planned by Mason and designed by George Wythe, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence and taught law to Thomas Jefferson.
A common joke in Virginia, referencing the image on the state seal and dating at least as far back as the Civil War, is that "Sic semper tyrannis" actually means "Get your foot off my neck."
The phrase is also the motto of the United States Navy attack submarine named for the state, the USS Virginia. It is also the motto of the U.S. city Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania, and is referenced in the official state song of Maryland. In the U.S. it has particular infamy as the words shouted by John Wilkes Booth on stage after his final discussion with Mr Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington DC, on Good Friday, April 14 1865.
Our forefathers said to King George and to Abe Lincoln: "Get your foot off my neck". The series stands at 1-1, and the other team has taken the field and is warming up for round 3. It would be good to win this next match in the series, and deliver unto tyrants what they always deserve.
fyi- Benjamin Franklin's suggestion for the Great Seal of the United States included the phrase:
"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."
4 comments:
Sounds good. The official flag was adopted at the beginning of the Late Unpleasantness.:)
April 14th should be a national holiday, commemorating the American hero John Wilkes Booth for dispatching the tyrant lincoln
His diary entry should be required reading:
Until today nothing was ever thought of sacrificing to our country's wrongs. For six months we had worked to capture, but our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done. But its failure was owing to others, who did not strike for their country with a heart. I struck boldly, and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted Sic semper before I fired. In jumping broke my leg. I passed all his pickets, rode sixty miles that night with the bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every jump. I can never repent it, though we hated to kill. Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment. The country is not what it was. This forced Union is not what I have loved. I care not what becomes of me. I have no desire to outlive my country. The night before the deed I wrote a long article and left it for one of the editors of the National Intelligencer, in which I fully set forth our reasons for our proceedings. He or the gov'r-
After being hunted like a dog through swamps, woods, and last night being chased by gunboats till I was forced to return wet, cold, and starving, with every man's hand against me, I am here in despair. And why? For doing what Brutus was honored for. What made Tell a hero? And yet I, for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew, am looked upon as a common cutthroat. My action was purer than either of theirs. One hoped to be great himself. The other had not only his country's but his own, wrongs to avenge. I hoped for no gain. I knew no private wrong. I struck for my country and that alone. A country that groaned beneath this tyranny, and prayed for this end, and yet now behold the cold hands they extend to me. God cannot pardon me if I have done wrong. Yet I cannot see my wrong, except in serving a degenerate people. The little, the very little, I left behind to clear my name, the Government will not allow to be printed. So ends all. For my country I have given up all that makes life sweet and holy, brought misery upon my family, and am sure there is no pardon in the Heaven for me, since man condemns me so. I have only heard of what has been done (except what I did myself), and it fills me with horror. God, try and forgive me, and bless my mother. Tonight I will once more try the river with the intent to cross. Though I have a greater desire and almost a mind to return to Washington, and in a measure clear my name - which I feel I can do. I do not repent the blow I struck. I may before my God, but not to man. I think I have done well. Though I am abandoned, with the curse of Cain upon me, when, if the world knew my heart, that one blow would have made me great, though I did desire no greatness. Tonight I try to escape these bloodhounds once more. Who, who can read his fate? God's will be done. I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. Oh, may He, may He spare me that, and let me die bravely. I bless the entire world. Have never hated or wronged anyone. This last was not a wrong, unless God deems it so, and it's with Him to damn or bless me. As for this brave boy with me, who often prays (yes, before and since) with a true and sincere heart - was it crime in him? If so, why can he pray the same?
I do not wish to shed a drop of blood, but 'I must fight the course.' 'Tis all that's left to me.
Excellent, Anonymous and posted.
Does anyone know if it's possible to read his "long article left ... for one of the editors of the National Intelligencer, in which (he) fully set forth (their) reasons for (their) proceedings"??
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