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During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress passes a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy. The resolution, drafted by future U.S. president John Adams and adopted in Philadelphia, created the Continental Marines and is now observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.

Serving on land and at sea, the original U.S. Marines distinguished themselves in a number of important operations during the Revolutionary War. The first Marine landing on a hostile shore occurred when a

it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…” He delivered these words knowing that his political opponents in the room were virulently opposed to his position. But every man of his day in the American colonies embraced a common understanding of the liberty to speak freely.

The people of Uxbridge were well-situated to follow the developments that created unrest within the Province of Massachusetts and led to a growing rebelliousness. The Middle Post Road, the shortest route from Boston to Hartford, and on to New York, passed through the Town. So too did the Worcester-to-Providence Road which intersected the Post road in Uxbridge. Those important thoroughfares brought travelers, newspapers, and mail to and through Uxbridge. Serving this activity were three taverns operated by Joseph Read, Samuel Read, and Ezekiel Wood. Taverns played an important role of serving as gathering places between Sabbaths where residents might exchange news about the goings-on in different parts of the Town as well as hear the latest

National Oration Winner for 2013: "Veracity in Freedom" Louis Edmundo Vasquez’s “Veracity in Freedom” was named the winner of the 2013 Joseph S. Rumbaugh Oration Contest. Following is the text of Vasquez’s speech. When in the course of human events,…

Faces of the American Revolution By Elizabeth D. Herman New York Times Wednesday, July 3, 2013 George Fishley, daguerreotype. George Fishley was a soldier in the Continental army. When the British army evacuated Philadelphia and raced toward New York City,…

The honor you confer by asking me to address you on the life and character of Seth Pomeroy, on this, the 200th Anniversary of his birth, I fully appreciate; yet to come where so much of this subject is well known, makes it difficult to bring that with which you are not already familiar. I shall, therefore, confine myself, so far as practicable to the views I have formed of the character of this hero and patriot, from a study of the records and letters he has left.

The loyalty, bravery and fearlessness, of the warlike Knights of the 11th Century, were most assuredly transmitted to the succeeding generations. In the changing dynasties of Great Britain, and in the changing fortunes of the Pomeroys, these sterling characteristics remained unchanged. Hence, we find Eltweed of the 16th Century, selected and solicited to join the fortunes of

Militias. Distrust of government. Abuse of power. The right to bear arms. Not a day passed without a passionate article or an editorial on the role of guns in American life. The year was 1775. More than 200 years later, the seminal debate undertaken as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison formulated the laws of the land still echoes. Is the Michigan Militia an aberration or the Constitution in action? Is Gordon Liddy a dangerous demagogue or a devoted patriot? What exactly did the founding fathers mean when they penned the Second Amendment? No sampler can do justice to the debate, but the following excerpts shed light on the perceived relation between arms and liberty.

As dawn broke on the morning of September 6, an advance party of militiamen seized the Worcester courthouse, barricaded themselves inside, and awaited the arrival of 25 Crown appointees. That morning, the well-organized, well-trained, and highly disciplined militia force of nearly 5,000 men poured into the Main Street area in front of the court building, assembling themselves into 37 town military companies. A large majority of the town militias had prudently voted the previous day to leave their firearms outside the town, so as not to provoke any unexpected violent incidents.⁵ The militia lined both sides of Main Street, forming a kind of gauntlet for the King's appointees to pass through. When the court officials arrived at the courthouse, they were denied entry and escorted to the nearby Daniel Heywood Tavern, where they were to await further instructions.

"It shows,” said he, “Then the British soldiers were men like you and me. It shows that the story of that fateful battle hour round many weeping hearts across the sea. Your histories tell you how two British soldiers, a sergeant and a private were killed, and are buried under the pines by the wail. One was killed and the other wounded. As the wounded soldier was crawling away he was met by a boy who had been chopping wood and who inflamed with the spirit of the hour, struck him dead with his axe. Mr. Bartlett of Concord tells me that not so long ago a young woman came to Concord and asked to be shown where the British soldiers lay. She came from Nottinghamshire and was a relative of one of them. She went to the graves and placed upon them I wreath, singing as she did so ‘God Save the King."