Thomas Jefferson famously once wrote, "The tree of liberty must occasionally be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants". He was referring to Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. In 1786-87, a group of disgruntled farmers and revolutionary war veterans too up arms to protest confiscatory laws which they believed benefitted the governor's cronies. The rebellion was put down by a private army financed by said cronies. Writing from his post as ambassador to France, Jefferson sympathized with the rebels and provided the now famous quote which is used to justify many different agendas.
Most recently, the tree of liberty quote has been used by gun rights groups to justify the sale of military grade weapons to civilians. It seems we must now refresh the tree with the blood of children.
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