The words were penned in large part by a true Virginia gentleman, a fact that, while lost on much of the nation, still brings pride to the hearts of Virginians of both genders and of all races.

When Thomas Jefferson put pen to paper and wrote the document that would launch the American Revolution, his goal was to unite 13 disparate colonies under the concept of freedom from the tyranny of British rule.

This was not to be a missive pleading for relief from the oppressive taxes and intrusive practices that were part and parcel of British rule — that approach had already failed. No, this was a broadside volley across the bow of a government that had abdicated its right to lead the people of a new nation far across the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This was a casting down of gauntlets for which all who were involved knew there would be dire consequences.

Fifty-six men, representing all 13 American colonies, signed “The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,” each of them acutely aware that he was potentially signing his own death warrant. What those men had finally come to understand so well was that freedom, just like tyranny, had a price. But where the yoke of tyranny had become too much to bear, the burden of freedom would be sweet and dear.

May we never forget the cost of freedom, and may we never forget these words, penned by a Virginian, which served as the introduction to the United States’ Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

Sic semper tyrannis.